Although first released back in 2014, and reviewed extensively elsewhere (including by other folks right here at Blaster Hub), the BOOMco Whipblast is nonetheless worth a second look. After all, it offers functionality you won’t find anywhere else, and it’s exactly what you’d expect from any BOOMco blaster: it’s wacky, unique and most importantly, fun to fire.

Included with the Whipblast are four BOOMco darts, a BOOMco target sticker (15cm in diameter) and an instruction sheet.

The Whipblast continues to keep the traditional BOOMco colours of red, blue and grey. Like most BOOMco blasters, there are two rotating, fold-out smart stick shields attached to the Whipblast. The shields act more as an aesthetic feature rather than being an actual shield, since they are far too small to be of any practical use. It also features a rail for BOOMco attachments. Beneath the main barrel are three dart holders.

Holding the Whipblast can be cumbersome, as you have to ensure that your middle finger is not pressing the second trigger or else the main blaster unit will tilt downwards. I usually have my middle finger resting in an awkward position (picture below). Note: Larger hands may find the handle too small.

To prime, hold down the second trigger, which will pivot the main unit of the blaster downwards. Continue to hold the second trigger and push the blaster downwards until you hear a click. Once it has clicked, push the blaster up to its original position and it is ready to fire. With a little practise, you’ll be able to prime this blaster with one hand. The technique of single-handed priming is to quickly ‘whip’ the blaster downwards and then flick it up by the wrist. It’s definitely a lot of fun to prime but the fun stops when you realise that the Whipblast is a single-dart muzzle loader. That means you still have to use your other hand to load in another dart. I really love the concept of ‘whipping’ to prime the blaster but BOOMco has really overlooked the practicality of a single-handed priming blaster. It could have been one of the most reliable secondary blasters if it was able to continually fire darts without reloading.

How does the Whipblast perform? Just fine. When fired flat, it achieves around 10 to 12 metres. When angled, it is able to reach and surpass the claimed range of 15m (Australian version). Obviously the 70ft version performs better, but it’s nice to see that the range featured on the box is accurate. I haven’t compared the accuracy with other BOOMco blasters but it’s relatively the same as the Nerf Firestrike.

Verdict

There is no doubt that the Whipblast is incredibly fun to use. The blaster is notable for its unique priming mechanism, but it’s extremely disappointing that you still need another hand to load in another dart. Nevertheless, it effectively serves the purpose of a reliable single-fire dart blaster and does a better job than the BOOMco Farshot thanks to its greater dart storage and an awesome priming mechanism. For $15 USD, it’s a great buy. For Down Under, it’s not as cheap. Since the brand seems to be dying out, it’s now more difficult to find in retail stores. Thankfully, it’s still sold at my local toy store with a whopping pricetag of $30 AUD (although at this time of writing, it’s on sale for $15). It’s certainly not cheap, considering you can buy a war-practical Strongarm for less than $15. But if you so happen to see it on sale (around $15-$20, depending how keen you are for the blaster) and are interested, go ahead and pick it up!

Too many words for you? Check out my video review of this blaster. Or skip to 2:15 to see the blaster in action. 

The post BOOMco Whipblast Review (15m version) appeared first on Blaster Hub.

Among the many surprises that have come from Chinese toy factories in recent years has been the rise of Feng Jia Toys. Unlike other blaster-building companies (Zecong comes to mind), Feng Jia tends to actually produce unique blasters. Even the blasters with obvious origins tend to have their own personalities. While the actual blaster names seem to change depending on color scheme and translation, their “roles” are consistent. As such, I will refer to this blaster as the Sniper Rifle. The price is high, but the blaster is unique and works well.

Beautifully Deadly

I acquired the translucent green Feng Jia model, which comes with glow in the dark darts and an illuminated dart turret. The fake scope at the top flips between raised and lowered positions. The grips both in front and back are spacious. The on/off switch sits just above the rear grip, but there’s no rev trigger of which to speak. Finally, the turret is made of completely clear plastic. Why clear?  It turns out there are two sets of LEDs sitting above and below the dart turret. The blue glow is quite pretty, and meshes well with the alien vibe of the blaster. It’s visible in daylight, but it’s really bright in the dark.

If the turret looks familiar, it’s because it’s virtually the EXACT same mold as the turret from the Buzz Bee Mech Tommy 20 and Automatic Tommy 20. In fact, if you wanted to swap turrets with the Buzz Bee, you could. There’s no reason to do that, though, unless you really want to be a special snowflake.

The NiMH battery pack (four AA-sized cells for 4.8V) has its own plug sitting in the back, and it rests in the battery tray slot. If you have another Feng Jia electric blaster, you’ll see that the battery trays are all interchangeable, and the tray still fits here! The spring contacts present in the others aren’t soldered into the metal tabs as they are here. I added my own so that I could use either a rechargeable pack or whatever AA batteries I had available. Eventually I will replace the entire section of the shell with a LiPo battery.

The Belly of the Beast

When you open up the blaster, you can see the pusher mechanism. The power switch on the side of the blaster blocks the trigger from being pulled. If you look closely, the wires being used are TINY. In addition, all the current being used must pass through that tiny switch. If the wire from the switch ran to a MOSFET or a relay, that would be one thing. In any case, wire replacement will help stock NiMH-powered performance, and would be essential for any form of overhaul.

The motor cage is rather large! The blaster still uses regular 130 size motors, though. The flywheels are smooth and large. Their spacing is slightly farther apart than you would find in a Nerf Stryfe or Rapidstrike. However, it’s less than that of the Buzz Bee Brute. I imagine that it’s tailored to the darts that shipped with the blaster. Standard Elite darts will still work, as do other brands of foam darts.

Lesson Time!

There’s nothing complicated about the wiring. Each motor has a small capacitor running in parallel. They help reduce the electrical noise coming off of the motors. Since you have spinning magnets in there causing the current to rise and fall, the variance can result in electromagnetic waves being generated. For small circuits there isn’t much of a concern, but with higher current loads and/or long runs of wire (which can act as an antenna), these help reduce the radio interference.

Performance

Performance of the Feng Jia Cyber Hunter Sniper Rifle is excellent for a stock blaster. Darts velocities tend to hover around 70 FPS when exiting the muzzle, and ranges averaging 65′ (angled) are typical. Rapid firing does diminish range due to the motors not having time to come back up to speed. Even then, it only takes about a second between shots to keep darts going a fair distance.

Conclusion

The Feng Jia Cyber Hunter Sniper Rifle has an out-of-this-world design, and great ranges. Until recently, these blasters had to be shipped from overseas. However, you can now find several Feng Jia blasters at Academy Sports, being distributed under the “World Tech Toys” brand. Both the red and green versions of this blaster are available for $50. It’s pricey, but for such a large and unique blaster, it could be justified.

The post Feng Jia Toys Cyber Hunter Sniper Rifle Review appeared first on Blaster Hub.

The Buzz Bee Destiny is one of Buzz Bee’s more exciting releases this year. The old Nerf Magstrike is a favourite of many for its out-of-box ROF and awesome sound. BoomCo’s Rapid Madness is in many ways a more refined version of the Magstrike, but the lack of Nerf compatibility is something that’s really hurt BoomCo. The Destiny offers a return to good old air powered rapid fire. How does it stack up with today’s blasters, and how does it compare to the Magstrike and Rapid Madness?

Everything in the Destiny package.

Disclosure: This blaster was sent to me by Buzz Bee Toys for review. I would like to thank them for their contribution, however note that it will not bias the review in any way.

The Box

Front of the box.

Back of the box.

The box is pretty standard Buzz Bee fare. Cable ties secure the large parts, while the darts are contained in a plastic tray.

The Destiny Design

Left side.

Right side.

Down the top.

Front of the blaster.

The Destiny is quite a bulky, blocky blaster. The main body of it is very wide, far more than most other blasters. Despite its size, it does not feature any more detailing than a typical Buzz Bee blaster, besides the texturing. A lot of the plastic surface is still very shiny, and that combined with its simplistic design contribute greatly to the “cheap” look and feel. The plastic used on the Destiny is decent, certainly nowhere near as bad as some older Buzz Bee plastics, but still not Nerf level quality. As is typical for newer Buzz Bee blasters, the yellow accents are all separate pieces from the main body.

Having the handle at the back makes the Destiny very unbalanced, and a little awkward to use. Though it is not particularly heavy, it is still more awkward to handle than most Nerf blasters.

Next to a Hyperfire.

The Destiny is a very large blaster, certainly larger than what I expected. It’s almost comparable in length to a Hyperfire, and is substantially wider. A setup like the Rapid Madness with the trigger on the front handle so that most of the weight is above or behind the trigger would have made it a lot easier to handle, and more compact to hold.

Close up of the “fiesta” detailing.

Something Buzz Bee has only just started to do is add texturing to the sides of their blasters. Pictured above is a texture pattern dubbed “fiesta” styling, and it does nothing but further distance Buzz Bee’s aesthetic design from Nerf. However Buzz Bee has confirmed plans to change the detailing to a “carbon fibre” texture. The first batch of blasters will still have the “fiesta” texture, but subsequent batches will feature the new “carbon fibre” texture.

Close up of the pump.

Pump extended.

Left hand on pump.

The Destiny is an air powered blaster, and has a hand pump running along the bottom of the blaster. The pump is single action, though has a very long stroke of around 20cm. A double action pump like that of the Rapid Madness would have greatly reduced the number of pumps required, though as seen with the Rapid Madness, makes pumping much more difficult.

The pump handle is fairly small, and rotates around freely. Though it is reasonably comfortable for me to grip, I certainly would not want the pump to be any smaller. If you have larger hands, you may find the pump a little bit small.

Close up of the handle.

Hand on handle.

The handle is also decently sized, though again, while I find it reasonably comfortable, if you have larger hands it might be a bit squishy. My one complaint about the handle is the extrusion on the back, which I find is uncomfortable and rather unnecessary.

Looking inside the clipwell.

Other side of the clipwell.

Here is a close look at the Destiny’s clipwell. The small orange piece at the back stops clips from being inserted too far. This aligns the clip nicely with the firing mech. This piece retracts when the trigger is pulled, and is held back by the clip once the first dart has been fired. The bumps along the bottom help keep the clip in place. They keep the clip aligned during firing, and also help prevent the clip from falling out if not fully fired.

Close up of the “jam release” button.

The Destiny features a “jam release” button on the right side, akin to the button found on the side of a Rapid Madness. It releases any remaining air in the firing chamber. This serves two purposes. The first is its intended purpose, a “jam release”. By venting the air in the firing chamber, the firing mechanism is reset and allows the clip to be moved freely, as it is possible to lock the clip in position.

Though not explicitly stated on the box, the second appears to be the prevention of autonomous firing. After firing all darts, it is possible for the firing chamber to collect a residual amount of air — not enough to fully fire and cycle the clip, but still enough to store pressure. If left alone, it is possible for the blaster to suddenly and randomly fire the remaining air. The jam release handily eliminates this problem by completely venting the firing chamber.

The Destiny 20 Dart Clip

Top of the clip.

Bottom of the clip.

Back of the clip.

Front of the clip.

Next to a Nerf 18 dart mag.

The 20 dart clip is a new, unique piece that has been specifically designed for the Destiny. It is reminiscent of both the Magstrike’s clip and BoomCo clips. The top of the clip has arrows showing which direction to feed the clip in, and ridges for the advancing mech to line up the clips. The bottom has a number of divots to lock in with all the bumps on the bottom wall of the clipwell. Note the small cutout on the bottom of the clip. This catches against the small orange piece in the clipwell, which prevents the clip from falling out after being emptied if the trigger is released. It is simple, effective and also easily bypassed if desired, as holding down the trigger will allow the clip to drop out anyway.

The “doublestack” design of the barrels allows shortening of the clip, however naturally increases width substantially. Furthermore, the necessity for full barrels for every dart increases bulk significantly.

The Destiny Fully Assembled

With the clip inserted.

Front-ish shot to show the size of the clip.

The Destiny is already quite a bulky blaster and is fairly unbalanced, even more so with the clip inserted. The clip adds substantial width to the blaster and more weight to the front, throwing off balance and handling even more. Like the Rapid Madness, the Destiny uses a sideways clip and clipwell. While this does introduce the issue of width, it also solves several problems that the vertical clip Magstrike had. One of the main problems with the Magstrike stems from its vertical clip design. Clips that had been partially fired had a tendency to slip downwards, especially if jostled, which made burst firing a total pain. Additionally, some Magstrikes struggled to advance past the first dart if not held sideways. The sideways clipwell coupled with several other additions inside the clipwell allow the Destiny to avoid all of these aforementioned issues.

During firing, the clip will advance rapidly through the blaster, towards the right. The blaster alternates top and bottom barrels, hence the need for a large muzzle.

Destiny Usage and Performance

To fire off all 20 darts, the Destiny requires around 15 full pumps. More is, of course, preferred for insurance against any air loss. A good rule of thumb for pumping on-the-fly is 1 pump per dart (besides the first shot, which requires 2 pumps). The built in pressure release will kick in after around 20 full pumps. The blaster is full auto, so once the blaster is pumped up and loaded, simply pull and hold the trigger to let loose your darts.

The Destiny’s range is decent, by typical Nerf “grey trigger” standards, at least. It averages 10-12 metres, but can be very inconsistent. One shot might drop down at 8 metres, and the next might soar to 13. The variance in range is much greater than with most other blasters.

Muzzle velocity averages somewhere around 50-55fps with light blue FVJs (that’s “full vinyl jacket” Nerf-type darts, which are very similar to the included darts). This puts it very close to, perhaps a little higher than, grey trigger Elite blasters.

Accuracy is fairly poor, as the range variance would suggest. Using my standard testing doorway at ~8m range, typically a quarter to a third of darts wouldn’t make it through the doorway. The majority of modern blasters are capable of getting at least 80% of darts through the doorway.

Rate of fire is the Destiny’s selling point, and boy does it impress! The Magstrike and Rapid Madness, to which it is very similar, achieve around a 10 dart per second ROF. But the Destiny, at full pressure, outclasses even them, pumping out 15-20 darts per second — well within its box claim of “20 darts in 2 seconds”. The exact ROF is dependent on a number of variables, especially the number of pumps. A 15-20dps rate of fire is unheard of in a stock blaster, and the fact that it can sustain such a high ROF with relative ease is impressive.

A ROF as high as the Destiny’s does have quite a big downside (or two): ammo conservation and fire control. Even with high speed Rapidstrike builds, a good internal setup and a lot of practice allow for fairly reliable single and double shots. With the Destiny, however, the smallest reliable burst I can fire is 3 darts. Firing just 2 darts is achievable, but not reliable. Single shots are almost impossible. In an entire clip of 20 darts, the most single shots I’ve been able to fire is about 3, with the rest being fired in 2 and 3 dart bursts.

Role in Gameplay

Given the large number of pumps required, and the current lack of spare clips (which is, of course, subject to change), it often isn’t practical to reload the Destiny in the middle of a game. As such, it serves best as a one-use blaster for emergencies and other critical situations. It excels at putting out a huge amount of foam as quickly as possible, so it works well as a room/area clearing or area denial blaster. The Destiny’s highly variable range, fairly poor accuracy and poor fire control make it rather ineffective and wasteful in standard cover-to-cover, potshot combat.

When compared to modified blasters, the Destiny loses a fair bit of its appeal as high speed Rapidstrike builds can easily reach (and beat) 15 darts per second. Furthermore, good Rapidstrike builds will also boast a muzzle velocity of around 110fps or more, depending on their exact internal setup and the darts used. Rapidstrikes are also far easier to reload, and their magazine system is easier to deal with and more modular.

Value and Summary

The Destiny will retail for 25USD, and should be available in the US quite soon. 25USD is a great price, as it’s well within the lower-end of blaster pricing. It’s close to the Magstrike’s price of ~20USD when it was still available, and is much lower than the original Rapid Madness price of 50USD. Nothing in the 25USD price range comes close to matching the Destiny for raw foam output. Yes, there are blasters in that range that get better ranges and are more accurate, but few can match the Destiny for fun factor. Its insanely high ROF and visceral firing sound can give anyone a huge smile, and that in itself makes it a great blaster.

Modification Potential

Overall internals shot.

Close up of the plunger system.

Shot of the OPRV on the tank.

The Destiny has very similar internals to the Nerf Magstrike. It uses a hybrid of spring and air power to attain a high ROF out of a pressurised bladder. Mod potential is somewhat different versus more conventional blasters. Increasing power would be much more difficult to achieve than for more conventional blasters. Probably the most significant practical mod would be to hook it up to some kind of HPA/LPA system to completely eliminate the need for pumping. That, combined with a bunch of spare clips, would eliminate the Destiny’s biggest weaknesses and would provide an extremely fun, high ROF blaster without the use of flywheels.

You can also find a link to the same review on my own blog: Outback Nerf

The post Review: Buzz Bee Destiny (18m/60ft EU) appeared first on Blaster Hub.

Hasbro really wants me to write about the Amazon Dash button that’s now available for Nerf. They’ve sent me press releases, images, a blaster missing most of its darts, a hand-written note encouraging my use, an actual Dash button, and even an Amazon gift card to help me try it out. In other words, they’re doing all they can to get me excited about it, but much like the rest of the Nerf fan community with whom I interact, my initial to reaction to the Amazon Dash button for Nerf was a resounding “meh.” Nonetheless, I decided to give it a try.

The concept of the Amazon Dash button feels like something out of a product planner’s dream… eliminate all the barriers to purchase by creating a product-specific “easy button.” At the same time, by making that button exclusive to your particular brand, the dangers of cross-shopping can be virtually eliminated. Oh, and since you don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home to make said purchase, there’s no reason not to buy that item immediately–and repeatedly. It’s like eBay’s “Buy it Now” button for the instant-gratification generation. It’s modern consumption at its best (and possibly, worst).

So, what is the Amazon Dash button, exactly? The Dash is a physical device that is sold by Amazon for $4.99 (with a $4.99 credit toward your first purchase) that allows consumers to instantly order products through their connected Amazon Prime accounts via WiFi. When a Dash button is pressed, it sends a signal via WiFi to the users connected device (a smartphone running the Amazon app), which places an order without any further interaction from the user. The device is small, and has only a single button. It can be placed virtually anywhere around the house, and was originally intended for high-consumption items like paper towels, detergent, etc. A single press places an order, though the user has half an hour to cancel the order via a notification sent to their mobile device. Repeat orders won’t be sent until the initial order has shipped, preventing unintended multiple orders.

So that’s how Amazon Dash buttons work, in general, but what about for Nerf, specifically? Well, the idea is that Nerf darts are consumables that need to be replaced often. And, truth be told, Nerf darts are a big money-maker for companies like Hasbro. Darts are actually assembled by hand (not inexpensively, I’m told), but the margins are still extremely good. And kids (adults too) lose darts all the time. So Hasbro would love for us to purchase more darts, more often. The Amazon Dash button for Nerf, therefore, makes a lot of sense from a corporate perspective. And here’s how they’re positioning it for consumers:

Amazon Dash Buttons for NERF and PLAY-DOH Now Available

A First for the Toy Industry, New Dash Buttons Keep Families and Fans Supplied with Creative Play and Action Packed Fun

PAWTUCKET, R.I.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Families can now stay stocked up on their favorite playtime essentials with the introduction of Amazon Dash Buttons for the Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) PLAY-DOH and NERF brands. Launching today, PLAY-DOH and NERF are the first toy brands available in Amazon’s popular program which allows Amazon Prime customers to reorder preferred products with the press of a button.

“NERF and PLAY-DOH are two of our most popular brands with families consuming darts and PLAY-DOH compound as part of their daily playtime,” said Jeff Jackson, VP of Sales at Hasbro. “We don’t want the fun to stop when supplies run low and teaming up with Amazon allows our consumers to keep playtime going while incorporating our brands more seamlessly into their everyday activities.”

The Amazon Dash Button is a small, Wi-Fi connected electronic device that makes ordering products quick and efficient. Starting today, the Amazon Dash Buttons for the PLAY-DOH and NERF brands are available for Amazon Prime customers to order onwww.amazon.com/dashbutton.

Once purchased, Amazon Prime members sync the buttons to their Amazon Prime accounts for fast, convenient ordering with Prime FREE Shipping. By pressing the Amazon Dash Button for the PLAY-DOH brand, customers can order a PLAY-DOH Mega Pack, PLAY-DOH 24-Pack of Colors, or a PLAY-DOH Fun Tub. With the Amazon Dash Button for the NERF brand, customers can order dart refills for the NERF N-STRIKE ELITE, NERF REBELLE, and NERF RIVAL blasters and bows.

So, Amazon Dash buttons are for our benefit, get it? They’re just trying to make our lives easier by eliminating the hassle (?) of purchasing darts via traditional means. Fair enough. But is that actually true? Does the Amazon Dash button for Nerf make it easier, more enjoyable, or somehow more cost-effective than buying darts in other ways? Well, I had to test it to find out.

The first thing I noted in attempting to set-up my Nerf Dash button is that it requires a smartphone running the Amazon app. So if you’re looking to set-up a Dash button at home with just a computer, you’re SOL. But the Dash is really more for early-adopters at this stage, so let’s assume having a reasonably modern smartphone with the Amazon app isn’t an issue. The next small hurdle you’ll encounter is the need to re-enter your Amazon app password to initiate the set-up, even if you’re already logged-in to the app. The Touch ID feature rarely works on my phone, so I had to open my password management app to find out what password I have set-up for Amazon, and then copy it over accordingly.

Assuming you’ve met the smartphone criteria for Dash set-up, you’re about halfway there. During Dash set-up, even though you’re using your phone, you also have to connect the Dash via WiFi–and doing so requires the password of whatever WiFi network it’s using. So if you’re anywhere other than on your own network when you first try to set-up the Dash, you may hit a dead-end (that’s what happened to me, initially). Since I wasn’t in range of my home’s WiFi when I first tried to set-up the Dash, and didn’t know the password of the network where I was located, I wasn’t unable to get things rolling right away. So much for convenience.

Once I was back at home in range of my personal WiFi network and with smartphone running the Amazon app in-hand with my other hand holding the Dash itself (got all that?), setting-up the service was pretty seamless. Instructions are included with the Dash… and it only took a minute or two for things to be up-and-running. But that’s not where the questions and a bit of head-scratching ended:

1. The first pause came when Amazon wanted to know if it could access the password on my personal network for other, poorly defined purposes (um.. how about no?).
2. Next, the Dash can be used to auto-magically order any of several pre-determined Nerf items, but they (Hasbro?) pick which ones. So, if you like the ones they’ve picked, then great. If you don’t, sorry. And on the Amazon Dash for Nerf page, they don’t directly tell you which items can be re-ordered using the Dash. You have to instead click on a button that goes to another page, to see what’s available.
3. Best I can tell, the items are all sold by and shipped from Amazon. However, if you’re viewing your buying options from your mobile device, it’s not totally clear since not every item has a “Prime” logo next to it (some do, some don’t). So I just stuck with a product that was clearly labeled “Prime,” to be safe. But they should really make this more easily understood.
4. It’s possible to re-associate your Dash button to a different product within the sphere of pre-chosen items (if, for instance, you stock-up on MEGAs and want to get some Elites). But doing so is a 5-step process via settings on your phone.
5. Lastly, Amazon asked me to “Turn on Notifications” to be made aware of when Dash orders are placed. That makes sense, except that it didn’t indicate in the set-up if the notifications were limited to Dash, or if it was for all Amazon purchases. I order a lot of other stuff from Amazon, and I don’t want notifications every time I place a random order, or part of an order ships, or my package is delivered, etc. I just want notifications for Dash orders to know they’ve been placed, and that’s it. Fortunately, it does appear this is possible, but figuring that out required turning on notifications and a trip to the same Dash sub-menu on my mobile device.

Once set-up, the Amazon Dash button for Nerf was actually quite easy to use. When the Dash button is pressed, there are some blinky lights to tell you it’s doing stuff, and that’s it. Then, a couple days later, your product arrives per the Amazon Prime standard. In my case, it was a pack of “Nerf N-Strike Elite Universal Suction Darts, 30-Pack” that was selling for $7.86 with free shipping from Prime–I could have gotten regular Elites, RIVAL HIRs, Rebelle darts, MEGA darts and a few other, related items, but I have lots of all of those, so I went with the suction-tipped ones since I don’t have many of those on-hand. And sure enough, they arrived at my house just like every other Prime product, and all was well.

But simply pressing a Dash button to place an order feels TOO easy. It’s almost Pavlovian, really… like the American consumer has been reduced to a hamster pressing a button for a treat in the eyes of corporations. Economists have long said that people who use credit cards spend more than those who use cash, since spending cash requires them to physically SEE the money leaving their hands. And this feels even worse. Pressing a Dash button is so far removed from the feeling of spending money, it really doesn’t seem like you’re spending money at all. That’s probably exactly what a company like Hasbro has in mind, but for consumers who aren’t particularly well-disciplined (which is, oh, most of America, particularly kids), that could be problematic.

Yet, the Dash button for Nerf has a bigger problem: it’s rather pointless. It’s true that Nerf enthusiasts do lose darts. But many fans don’t use Nerf darts at all–Elites are known for poor accuracy and other issues, so many fans use third-party darts with superior qualities of flight, durability, economy, or all of the above. In other words, those who go through darts the fastest are also the ones who are the least likely to want to purchase darts made by Hasbro in the first place. So who is the button for? Perhaps moms and dads with kids who frequently engage in Nerf battles, and who don’t particularly care how many darts are consumed will find the Dash button for Nerf to be of value. But I have my doubts. At least trying it out won’t cost you anything beyond the price of the item (Amazon pays for the Dash with your first purchase).

So if you like Nerf darts, you go through them frequently, you don’t mind waiting a minimum of two days to receive them, you’re ok with the limited purchase choices, you want to order the same thing every time (or don’t mind taking the time to re-associate your Dash with a new product), you’ve got an Amazon Prime account, you have a smartphone running the Amazon app, you have a WiFi network, you only place orders within that network, and you’re not a compulsive buyer with a spending problem, the Dash button just might make sense. For everyone else–which is likely almost everyone who actually uses Nerf blasters to play–the Amazon Dash for Nerf is an overly-limiting solution to a problem that no one has asked to be solved.

Sure, Nerf darts are a “consumable,” but until Amazon can drop them to you in the heat of battle via drone flying overhead, the Dash button doesn’t do anything for the average Nerf player that would be of particular value. If anything, the Dash button for Nerf is overly limiting with no real up-side for the user other than… saving maybe 2 or 3 taps in the regular app? The intent seems good, but a Dash button for detergent when your laundry can wait a day or two and you always get the same kind makes a lot more sense than a Dash button for Nerf when you need darts right now, and potentially for a variety of different blaster types. There are a lot of products for which the Amazon Dash button makes reasonable sense. But Nerf is not one of them.

The post Review: Amazon Dash Button for Nerf appeared first on Blaster Hub.

One of 2016’s flagship blasters, the Khaos MXVI-4000, is finally starting to find its way to stores across the nation. I managed to get my hands on one of these $70 Rival blasters to do a video review. In addition, I’ve added some thoughts I’ve had since completing the video for this gigantic blaster.

The Video Review

My Additional Thoughts

The big question myself and many others are left with after getting our hands on this blaster is: “Will the Rival Khaos magazines be available for purchase separately?” To which we don’t yet have an answer. There are several DPCI codes (the numbers used by Target stores to identify products) that are reserved for Nerf products that have yet to be identified in the price range of what could be a standalone Khaos magazine. This gives us hope that we’ll see them on shelves, but I’m not banking on this. Personally, I think the best-case scenario will be for Hasbro to make them available from their online web store the same way they made Sledgefire shells available. This way they can sell them without extra High Impact Rounds or packaging, allowing for a more reasonable price point.

In terms of functional design for the blaster, there was an issue I wasn’t made aware of until after the video, which is that there are no built-in sling mounts on this blaster. So, for those of you that like to sling blasters behind you while running around at games, you will have to look for aftermarket options. I don’t think that’s a terrible thing, since the locations Hasbro chooses to put sling points on their blasters aren’t always great. There are plenty of aftermarket options for sling adapters made for Nerf blasters, which will give you the freedom to put a sling point wherever you’d like.

The conveyor belt system is something I was really not a fan of after using the Hyperfire. The delay between trigger pull and actual firing left it feeling a bit sluggish to me. I feared the same for the Rival Khaos. However, it did feel a bit better use, which was a pleasant surprise. If you were in the same boat as me, don’t knock the Khaos until you’ve tried it. Like I said in the video, this blaster is by no means a performance powerhouse. For those of you playing stock style games, it will hold up well enough. Beyond that, the blaster is just fun to hold and use, it has a heft that makes it feel substantial. The aesthetics look like it’s been pulled from a video game and dropped into your hands.

The fun factor to me compensates for the challenges this blaster brings. The biggest frustration though, is the awkward loading of rounds into the magazine, followed by loading the magazine into the blaster. These are real issues you should be aware of, along with the slower than advertised FPS readings. If you don’t find these to be deal breakers, then I think you’ll enjoy this blaster.

The post Nerf Rival Khaos Review: Frustrating and Fun? appeared first on Blaster Hub.

At the end of June, Blaster Hub was able to release info on the new Prime Time Toys blasters for 2016. In a clear bid to eat away at Hasbro’s shelf space, all the new blasters were available at competitive price points and claimed ranges of up to 80 feet. Now that August is here, stores are beginning to set these toys on shelves, especially at Target and Walmart. Are they worth adding to your arsenal? The answer would seem to be yes!

This review will cover the five NEW spring-powered blasters available on shelves. The Powerbolt is a holdover from last year (albeit with added Nerf dart compatibility), and the Quad 4-Pack Power Pack still has yet to be seen on shelves. The Enforcer, the new automatic flywheel blaster, is special enough to merit its own entry at a later date.

Dart Zone Magnum Superdrum

The most anticipated (and possibly ludicrous) blaster in this group has to be the Magnum Superdrum. $20 buys you a pistol with a 40 dart drum and an arm rest to balance the weight. The initial loading of darts takes a few minutes, but the blasting that follows is pure, unadulterated fun.

It’s very easy to handle your Magnum (huehuehue). You pull back on the slide to prime, return it forward, and pull the trigger to fire. Alternatively, you can slam-fire by keeping the trigger depressed and pumping the slide. Three darts per second seems to be the limit on rate of fire.

My only quibble is with the arm rest. While it can be adjusted in both length and rotation, it doesn’t feature any way to lock it in place. Even so, if you grip your Magnum and let the weight in front hang a little bit, the plastic will stay in place against your arm.

The ranges with the included darts are extremely impressive. Firing parallel to the ground, 50′ shots were easy to achieve. At an angle, meanwhile, 80′ seemed to be the average, with some shots landing as far as 92′. Be aware that slam-fire drops ranges by about ten feet. I am unsure of the exact cause of this phenomenon, but I will experiment with the internals to find out why.

On the topic of internals, the inside of the blaster is interesting. No air restriction valve is present.The plunger has a respectable 27mm diameter. A small sled moving beneath the plunger tube engages the turret rotation and plunger priming. Also, there appear to be two catches at the rear of the shell. This would be the first area of interest for those experiments I just mentioned.

Overall, this larger than normal pistol has plenty of range and endurance, and is great for the run-and-gun type of player. Grab a Magnum!

Dart Zone Blitzfire Quick-Shot

This blaster comes in a two-pack for $15, and it is your standard six shot revolver. Pull back on the slide, return it, pull the trigger, and fire. Note that the turret turns on the trigger pull, using a revolver-type rotation mechanism. The average ranges were slightly less than that of the Magnum, but consistent 75′ shots are nothing to sneeze at. Some shots did make it past 80′, so we have to rate the range claims as “true.”

The Blitzfire Quick-Shot also has a 27mm plunger. There are no air restriction valves here, either. Other than a spring replacement and fiddling with the barrels, there are few things for a basic modder to change. Perhaps that’s a good thing, though. It’s always nice when you DON’T need to change anything.

Dart Zone Tri-Fire

Prime Time Toys decided to do the Nerf N-Strike Elite Triad better. PTT managed to include auto-rotating barrels instead of using the smart AR system (which is patented by Hasbro, by the way). Pulling on the bottom of the plunger primes the blaster, but it also moves a parallel piece of plastic. This, in turn, moves a small three-prong gear and rotates the barrels. The trigger doesn’t pull back so much as it does rotate down, which does feel slightly odd.

Since there is a direct path from plunger to barrel, there’s nothing preventing you from fooling around with the barrels. You can unscrew the barrel assembly very easily. It turns out that the Tri-Fire is the only one of the new blasters to actually have air restriction valves. You can remove them with ease once you separate the orange base.

The blaster still manages to hit 80’+ on a few angled shots, but it tends to average 72′. Removing the air restrictor valves will boost that by a few feet.

Unlike the other blasters in this group, there is room for longer barrels to be added. Some PETG would go nicely with this setup in order to harness all the plunger power you possibly can.

The most important note: these blasters come in a three-pack, for $10. When Triads usually go for $6, the Tri-fire suddenly becomes one heck of a good deal.

Dart Zone/Adventure Force Legendfire

The Legendfire (green at Walmart, blue elsewhere) is a slam-fire only blaster, which may be a turnoff to some blaster fans. It does, however, have a smooth and controllable prime in a comfortable platform. Even without a functional trigger, it’s not hard to aim at a target and hit it. In addition, the Legendfire has a spare turret that can be carried on the back and reloaded while you fire from its partner. You simply pull back the orange iron sight on top to break open the barrel, and change turrets as needed.

The Legendfire performed as well as the Magnum in terms of range. I was averaging 80′ average with my angled shots, and at least two shots reached the 90′ mark. I could also spam darts slightly faster, at four darts per second. The long barrel did not appear to negatively affect the ranges, so the darts are traveling straight for at least the first foot of flight.

On the inside, the Legendfire looks almost identical to the Powerbolt Belt Blaster. The priming rod operates the rotation mechanism, and the catch rides along a plastic rail inside the shell. Once it reaches the end of the priming motion, the rail forces the catch down, releasing the plunger. It’s not a complicated system, but there really isn’t a way to add a functional trigger with the current setup.

The Legendfire is available for $16.

Adventure Force Havoc

Finally, we have a $10 surprise available exclusively at Walmart. The Havoc is a clip-loading pistol with a sliding side prime. You flip up the priming handle and pull it back. Then, you push it forward (no need to flip the handle back down), and you can fire. The clip advances upward a la the Buzz Bee Cougar. Amazingly, this blaster packed the biggest punch of the lot, with 85′ average angled shots and more than a few darts going 100′ away! More importantly, more clips are readily available from the Dart Zone website; $18 buys four 8-dart clips and 40 darts.

Internally, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. I’ll have to remove the spring and see if it’s stronger than those in the other blasters. There are no air restriction valves in this blaster (notice a trend?). The plunger tube is the same size as its brothers and sisters. One small piece did get my attention. The front of the clip well has a small door that covers it, and flips up just in case you advance the clip more than once before firing. That way, an unused dart won’t cause the entire blaster to jam. It’s a nice touch for an already great blaster.

2nd Generation Superdarts

It would be a mistake to review all these blasters without mentioning what they fire. The newest version of the Superdart now matches Nerf Elite darts in length,  and have higher quality dart heads. The dart head style is still the same; it just appears that the process has been improved significantly. There is less excess glue present, and the heads are much smoother. The darts weight about one gram each, compared to 0.9g for the old version. In addition, the new darts seem to fly much more accurately. For the moment, it seems these could be a solid alternative to Elites.

Conclusion

So far, Prime Time Toys is knocking it out of the park. All of their new spring-powered blasters work as well as advertised, and are less expensive than their Nerf counterparts. The Magnum and Havoc blasters especially warrant attention. If PTT can get the sales to match their blaster quality, then Hasbro is going to have some tough competition this Christmas.

Raw Footage from Prime Time Toys

Following is “B Roll” footage sent to use by PTT after this article was first posted, which will soon be found on their own YouTube channel. It gives a better idea of the Magnum in use.

The post Review: Prime Time Toys 2016 Spring-Powered Blasters appeared first on Blaster Hub.

Toy melee weapons: they’re seen more often in LARP (Live Action Role Play) settings than in Nerf wars, and aren’t usually an effective tool. Nevertheless, they make for a fun addition to wars, and they are sometimes useful. So, while not strictly blaster-related, it’s worth taking a look at one of the latest entries in the melee category to see how it compares to the toy weapons we’re used to seeing.

Hasbro has had this portion of the market largely to themselves. Star Wars brought us lightsabers (some new versions are now composed of foam). Nerf brought swords and shields with N-Force. More recently, Hasbro has partnered with Perpetual Play Group for various Nerf melee and throwing toys. Buzz Bee Toys, however, has been improving their offerings in the Ruff Stuff product line. 2013 brought us the Gladiator and Buccaneer swords. Last year brought us items like the Fun Sword. And this year, Buzz Bee has upgraded the Fun Swords with light-up blades, with a low price point of only $5.

The swords come in several varieties (short sword, falchion, katana), but all the new swords share a few things. First, they have a hard plastic tube at their core, encased in fairly stiff foam. Second, they have a red button on their handles. Finally, they have brightly colored blades that diffuse the blue or red light inside for the glowing effect.

If you’re familiar with the N-Force swords, then we can make an easy comparison. The length is close to that of the individual Vendettas, and a few inches less than the other short swords. In width, however, the larger Buzz Bee swords are close to the Marauder.

As I have not yet used these at any kind of war, I instead abused the blades by hitting them against walls and other objects repeatedly. In addition, I had a few people hit me with them. So far , the swords have very little visible damage, and the foam has enough give to prevent any kind of injury.

The glowing effect works very well, although that assumes the kids at Walmart haven’t played with the sword in the aisle so much that the batteries have run dry. Even in daytime, you can see the light reasonably well. In the dark, however, the swords are REALLY bright. I can’t wait to see how these look the next time I’m at an indoor, evening war.

On the Inside…

One sword did get sacrificed for science, although it can be put back together easily. I simply took a razor blade to the length of the handle, removed the foam grip and guard, and then worked the rest of the plastic tube out of the blade. After that, I cut the tube apart just above the electrical components.

Three, LR41 button cells in series power the LED. If you remove the tube plug at the bottom of the grip (where you see the Buzz Bee logo), you can actually see two screws that hold the batteries and LED in place. If you’re willing to put up with the frustration of working in tight spaces, you can certainly manage to replace the batteries.

For only $5, this is a surprisingly robust melee toy. Even if you don’t care about the light, this Buzz Bee offering is a far better than any Nerf/Perpetual Play items currently on shelves. It’s stiff and soft in all the right places, and it has a handle large enough to accommodate your hand. This has my stamp of approval.

The post Buzz Bee Ruff Stuff Light Up Sword Review appeared first on Blaster Hub.

Spinning barrels are always an enticing feature of blasters. Regardless of how impractical they are, they’re just plain cool. The Buzz Bee Ultra-Tek Cyclonic promised spinning barrels along with full-auto flywheeling which, as seen with the Ultra-Tek Brute, we know the company can do reasonably well. I was rather excited, therefore, to receive a Cyclonic with the hope that it, like the Brute, could be used as a budget, full-auto flywheeler.

Everything in the Cyclonic package.

Disclaimer: This blaster was sent to me by Buzz Bee Toys for review. I would like to thank them for their support. Note that it will not bias the review in any way.

The Cyclonic Box

Front of the box.

Back of the box.

Same old same old box design. Cable ties holding in anything big, with the darts held in a plastic tray.

The Cyclonic Design

Left side of the blaster.

Right side.

Down the top.

Along the bottom.

The Buzz Bee Cyclonic is quite a big and bulky blaster. It’s very chunky to support the spinning barrel, yet has no stock or rear weight to balance it. It feels a little clumsy to handle compared to most other blasters.

Close up of the "fiesta" texturing.

Looking at the other texture pattern.

The Cyclonic features Buzz Bee’s “fiesta” pattern shell detail on most of the side faces. It also features a diagonal hatching on some side areas. This hatching may be indicative of what we’ll be seeing soon with the “carbon fibre” texture we’ve been told will be used on newer waves.

Close up of the battery tray cover.

Battery tray exposed. Seen here with 2 IMRs and 2 dummies.

The Cyclonic is powered by 4 AAs, which are stored in a tray at the back of the blaster. AAs are quite insufficient for this sort of blaster and its power demands, which I’ll go into more detail in Performance.

Close up of the spinning barrel.

Looking in the front of the barrel.

Spinning barrel in action.

The spinning barrel is one of the Cyclonic’s main aesthetic features. But functionally, it’s just a faux barrel with mini faux barrels molded on the side, same as most other spinning barrels on blasters. It also lights up courtesy of two LEDs mounted on the sides of the barrel.

Close up of the handle.

Hand on handle.

Trigger partially pulled.

Trigger completely pulled.

In contrast with the rest of the blaster, the Cyclonic’s handle is relatively small and slim. It’s fairly well designed, with good curvature and shape, though it could benefit from more bulk.

The Cyclonic has quite a long trigger pull, even compared to a typical semi-auto Nerf flywheeler. This accomodates its dual-stage trigger system, in contrast with Nerf’s flywheelers just having a separate rev trigger. The first half of the trigger pull spins up the flywheels, and powers the spinning barrel and its lights. A full trigger pull powers up the pusher. The trigger pull is one of the stiffest I’ve encountered–it’s far stronger than any of Nerf’s semi-auto flywheelers, or any other blaster I’ve used really. The return spring is very strong, perhaps unnecessarily strong.

Close up of the magwell.

Looking into the magwell.

Trying to reach for the mag release.

Loaded with a Nerf 18 mag.

With a Nerf 25 drum.

The Cyclonic is another of Buzz Bee’s mag fed blasters. It is completely cross-compatible with Nerf’s clip (mag) system. The magwell fits all mags very loosely, and many mags have a little bit of wiggle room. There is a single electrical safety that disables the flywheels and pusher if a mag is not inserted. The spinning barrel will still light up and spin however–it is a “try me” feature on the box. In fact, the Cyclonic actually includes 4 AAs in box.

The mag release is the same as other Ultra-Tek blasters: a small cylindrical button that releases when pushed up. I found it just a bit too far to reach comfortably with my middle finger. A more conventional one like with the Stryfe/Rapidstrike/etc or a lever would have been preferable.

Next to a Stryfe.

The Cyclonic is not an especially large blaster, particularly compared to beasts like the Mastodon. But for a stockless blaster, it is quite big.

The Buzz Bee 20 Dart Mag

Buzz Bee 20 mag next to a Nerf 18 mag.

Loaded in a Stryfe, Nerf 18 mag for comparison.

In a Hyperfire.

Included with the Cyclonic is a Buzz Bee 20 dart mag. It was seen previously with Buzz Bee’s Ultra Tek Brute, but was also released in its own retail package earlier. In many ways, it is directly comparable to Nerf’s 18 dart clip since they have a similar capacity and size, and are both available separately. Like Buzz Bee’s 8 dart mag, the 20 dart mag is mostly compatible with Nerf’s clip (mag) system. There are certain blasters in which it is very tight (such as the Rapidstrike and Rayven), but for most Nerf blasters (such as the Stryfe and Hyperfire pictured), the Buzz Bee 20 mag fits just fine. It’s a perfectly reasonable substitute for the Nerf 18 round mag, and has the bonus of holding 2 extra darts.

The Cyclonic Fully Assembled

All loaded up.

Here’s the Cyclonic loaded up with the Buzz Bee 20 dart mag. It’s an oddly proportioned blaster–on the one hand, the huge spinning barrel and general bulk suggest a heavy weapon. On the other hand, it has no stock and does not have any particularly good fore end to grip. It’s a little awkward to handle, with significant front-end weight and bulk, and no stock or rear weight to balance it.

Cyclonic Performance

FPS shot.

Does the (EU) Cyclonic live up to its excellent performing Ultra Tek brethren? Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Range is rather disappointing, at around 8-10 metres with Ultra-Tek darts. It doesn’t lose much, if any, range in rapid fire however, which is at least an advantage over most Nerf flywheelers.

Accuracy is quite good, though really only because the Cyclonic is too weak to destabilise darts. At higher flywheel speeds, you’d probably be looking at similar, perhaps worse, accuracy compared to other flywheelers like the Nerf Stryfe.

Rate of fire is also quite disappointing. I was seeing probably around 1.5-2 darts per second on AAs (depending on the exact voltage of the batteries). Performance from the Buzz Bee Cyclonic is highly dependent on having a set of good AAs. Initially, I tried it with a set of rechargeables at ~1.1V each, and it struggled to cycle through any darts unless the mag was half empty. I switched to a set of relatively new non-rechargeables (~1.3V) and it performed much better, but still showed signs of struggling.

The Cyclonic is an excellent example of why typical AA cells (and typical C/D/etc cells, for that matter) should not be used in any high level flywheeler. Even in a basic semi-auto flywheeler powering just 2 motors, these typical cells struggle to provide the motors with enough power, resulting in very long spool up and very poor torque. The Cyclonic has a total of 4 motors and 2 (relatively low power) LEDs. Compared to a typical semi-auto, it pulls far more current, and it is very apparent when using it just how much the cells are struggling. Once the flywheels and barrel are spinning at max speed, as soon as the pusher is started, both of them decelerate substantially. They accelerate back up to speed very slowly. Furthermore, the pusher is substantially slower actually feeding darts than when the mag is empty.

Something else to note is that I actually had to do a bit of fixing on my Cyclonic. When I first got it out of box, it was constantly misfiring. I noticed that one of the flywheels seemed to spin slower than the other one. I determined that one of the motors was slower than the other, and upon opening that motor, I found the cause. For whatever reason, that motor’s brushes were covered in a grey paste that added friction to the commutator, thus slowing it down. Upon cleaning out the paste, the motor then quickly matched speed with the other motor, and the blaster stopped misfiring.

Role in Gameplay

Unfortunately, given that its performance is all round underwhelming, the (EU) Cyclonic does not have a role it excels in. It does have one notable advantage, in that its flywheels spin up much faster than typical stock (grey trigger) Nerf flywheels. The flywheels reach full speed in less than a second, where most (grey trigger) Nerf flywheels still have a ways to go to reach top speed. This lets you get good shots off much faster with the Cyclonic than most other flywheelers. Besides that though, there’s nothing really distinguishing it from the pack. Many blasters can easily match and exceed its range and ROF. Unless you absolutely must have a full-auto mag fed flywheeler on a low budget, there’s nothing really that the (EU) Cyclonic does particularly well.

Value and Summary

The Buzz Bee Cyclonic has an RRP of 20USD, which is on par with the Stryfe’s RRP. The least you’d be looking at for one of Nerf’s full auto flywheelers is 30USD (RRP). If it were a better blaster, the Cyclonic would be a great deal (and if the US spec one is on par with the other Ultra-Tek blasters, it would be). However the (EU) Cyclonic is just not that great a blaster and therefore doesn’t represent exceptional value. There’s no doubt it’s still fun, as everyone loves spinning barrels, but it could easily have been substantially better without them (see the Buzz Bee Brute, for instance).

Modification Potential

Overall internals shot.

Close up of the rotating, light up barrel internals.

Looking at the flywheels.

Close up of the pusher mech.

The majority of the Buzz Bee Cyclonic’s internals are relatively ordinary. The spinning barrel mech is pretty much what you’d expect. A 130 motor drives a gear train which, in turn, drives the spinning barrels. The LEDs are wired in parallel with the motor. The flywheel motors are mounted on a plate which is screwed into position. The flywheels are toothed in typical Buzz Bee fashion. The trigger pushes against two tab switches, which power the flywheels and barrel, and pusher respectively.

It’s worth noting that the Cyclonic’s flywheel cage has a much larger flywheel gap than usual. This means it applies much less friction to darts that are fed through. Since maximum flywheel velocity is determined by friction, the Cyclonic is limited to a much lower flywheel velocity ceiling than typical Nerf flywheelers. It is entirely possible to alter the cage to fix this issue, but it is something worth noting.

The pusher mech is rather different. Although it cycles as normal while the trigger is held, when the trigger is released, the pusher is automatically mechanically retracted. This is in contrast to the Nerf Rapidstrike, where the trigger only interacts with the pusher electrically. The Cyclonic mech’s main advantages are the impossibility of pusher runaway, and the guarantee of the pusher returning. Its main disadvantages are the inability to complete a partial cycle if the trigger is released early, as well as the painfully long trigger pull.

You can also find a link to the same review on my own blog: Outback Nerf

The post Review: Buzz Bee Ultra-Tek Cyclonic (22m/72ft EU) appeared first on Blaster Hub.

Thanks to friends on Facebook and Reddit, I found out about the newest blaster lineup from Lanard Toys. As of this posting, the Lanard Huntsman Alpha series consists of a new bolt-action blaster, a new air pressure pistol, and a recolored Sonic Bazooka (which is nice to see on shelves again). Today we will examine the Lanard Huntsman Ambush.

The Ambush is a single shot, bolt-action blaster with a scope attachment and dart storage in the stock. In that sense, the Ambush is Lanard’s version of the Buzz Bee Ultra-Tek Predator. The internals are a surprise, and the stock performance is better than advertised. But the asking price of $22 is an issue, especially when a blaster like the Predator can be found for $10–and with better stock performance, to boot.

The Trivial Stuff

The stock has storage space for five darts, hidden behind a flip-up door. If anything, the slots are a little too large for the included darts–don’t open it up while the butt is facing the ground! The scope, meanwhile, simply snaps on top of the blaster. There are no accessory rails to speak of, so if you happen to like the scope, you’ll need some other way to mount it to your other blasters.

Blaster Operation

The Lanard Huntsman Ambush has roughly 2 5/8″ of draw, which means the breech is shorter than the darts you’ll be loading. That’s not really an issue since we use foam darts, mainly just an annoyance. As you can see, the barrel is the orange piece of plastic plastic welded to the front of the grey bolt assembly. The  air restrictor sits between the two pieces, floating freely without a spring behind it, which makes for an annoying rattle when handling the blaster.

The barrel is poorly designed, with only the back inch or so actually holding the dart. If there wasn’t much power to the blaster, this wouldn’t be an issue. But when we open the blaster up, we can fortunately see a rather impressive power plant! 

The plunger tube is roughly an inch in diameter where the plunger head rides, and the entire plunger sits in front of a beefy spring. This means we have a blaster body that wasn’t built to harness the power inside it. It’s easy enough to remedy with a new barrel, but as a stock blaster, it’s disappointing. You simply have a lot of air going to waste.

The plunger head and rod are fastened with a metal rod. Both the plunger and the tube have grooves that only line up in a certain way, and there are white, spring-loaded levers that prevent firing until the plunger tube is all the way forward, and also keep the tube there until after you fire. If you reassemble the blaster without everything lined-up properly, you won’t be able to prime the blaster, let alone fire it.

Performance

The packaging claims ranges of up to 50′. Even with the barrel issues, I was hitting angled ranges averaging 55′ with the included darts. Keep in mind that Lanard’s micro darts are rather poor quality in comparison to other brands. Elite streamlines hit a respectable 65′ average. However, more than a few darts came out of the blaster in a death spiral, traveling maybe 15′ forward. There’s a reason we need longer barrels–unused air behind the dart can knock it off course and ruin your shots.

These stock ranges still don’t match those of Nerf N-Strike Elite or Buzz Bee Ultra-Tek blasters, though.

Conclusion

The Ambush offers decent ranges and plenty of modding potential. However, the price is currently the sticking point. As of now, I’ve only seen these blasters in Go! Toys and Games stores in malls and the like, and they are somewhat infamous for their price inflation. So this $22 blaster can be left alone on the shelf while you grab an Ultra-Tek Predator at Walmart for $10 and get better performance out of the box. Hopefully these will appear at other stores like Dollar General for much lower prices. Until then, unless you really want it, skip the Lanard Huntsman Ambush for now.

The post Lanard Huntsman Alpha Ambush Review appeared first on Blaster Hub.

Although first released back in 2014, and reviewed extensively elsewhere (including by other folks right here at Blaster Hub), the BOOMco Whipblast is nonetheless worth a second look. After all, it offers functionality you won’t find anywhere else, and it’s exactly what you’d expect from any BOOMco blaster: it’s wacky, unique and most importantly, fun to fire.

Included with the Whipblast are four BOOMco darts, a BOOMco target sticker (15cm in diameter) and an instruction sheet.

The Whipblast continues to keep the traditional BOOMco colours of red, blue and grey. Like most BOOMco blasters, there are two rotating, fold-out smart stick shields attached to the Whipblast. The shields act more as an aesthetic feature rather than being an actual shield, since they are far too small to be of any practical use. It also features a rail for BOOMco attachments. Beneath the main barrel are three dart holders.

Holding the Whipblast can be cumbersome, as you have to ensure that your middle finger is not pressing the second trigger or else the main blaster unit will tilt downwards. I usually have my middle finger resting in an awkward position (picture below). Note: Larger hands may find the handle too small.

To prime, hold down the second trigger, which will pivot the main unit of the blaster downwards. Continue to hold the second trigger and push the blaster downwards until you hear a click. Once it has clicked, push the blaster up to its original position and it is ready to fire. With a little practise, you’ll be able to prime this blaster with one hand. The technique of single-handed priming is to quickly ‘whip’ the blaster downwards and then flick it up by the wrist. It’s definitely a lot of fun to prime but the fun stops when you realise that the Whipblast is a single-dart muzzle loader. That means you still have to use your other hand to load in another dart. I really love the concept of ‘whipping’ to prime the blaster but BOOMco has really overlooked the practicality of a single-handed priming blaster. It could have been one of the most reliable secondary blasters if it was able to continually fire darts without reloading.

How does the Whipblast perform? Just fine. When fired flat, it achieves around 10 to 12 metres. When angled, it is able to reach and surpass the claimed range of 15m (Australian version). Obviously the 70ft version performs better, but it’s nice to see that the range featured on the box is accurate. I haven’t compared the accuracy with other BOOMco blasters but it’s relatively the same as the Nerf Firestrike.

Verdict

There is no doubt that the Whipblast is incredibly fun to use. The blaster is notable for its unique priming mechanism, but it’s extremely disappointing that you still need another hand to load in another dart. Nevertheless, it effectively serves the purpose of a reliable single-fire dart blaster and does a better job than the BOOMco Farshot thanks to its greater dart storage and an awesome priming mechanism. For $15 USD, it’s a great buy. For Down Under, it’s not as cheap. Since the brand seems to be dying out, it’s now more difficult to find in retail stores. Thankfully, it’s still sold at my local toy store with a whopping pricetag of $30 AUD (although at this time of writing, it’s on sale for $15). It’s certainly not cheap, considering you can buy a war-practical Strongarm for less than $15. But if you so happen to see it on sale (around $15-$20, depending how keen you are for the blaster) and are interested, go ahead and pick it up!

Too many words for you? Check out my video review of this blaster. Or skip to 2:15 to see the blaster in action. 

The post BOOMco Whipblast Review (15m version) appeared first on Blaster Hub.

Among the many surprises that have come from Chinese toy factories in recent years has been the rise of Feng Jia Toys. Unlike other blaster-building companies (Zecong comes to mind), Feng Jia tends to actually produce unique blasters. Even the blasters with obvious origins tend to have their own personalities. While the actual blaster names seem to change depending on color scheme and translation, their “roles” are consistent. As such, I will refer to this blaster as the Sniper Rifle. The price is high, but the blaster is unique and works well.

Beautifully Deadly

I acquired the translucent green Feng Jia model, which comes with glow in the dark darts and an illuminated dart turret. The fake scope at the top flips between raised and lowered positions. The grips both in front and back are spacious. The on/off switch sits just above the rear grip, but there’s no rev trigger of which to speak. Finally, the turret is made of completely clear plastic. Why clear?  It turns out there are two sets of LEDs sitting above and below the dart turret. The blue glow is quite pretty, and meshes well with the alien vibe of the blaster. It’s visible in daylight, but it’s really bright in the dark.

If the turret looks familiar, it’s because it’s virtually the EXACT same mold as the turret from the Buzz Bee Mech Tommy 20 and Automatic Tommy 20. In fact, if you wanted to swap turrets with the Buzz Bee, you could. There’s no reason to do that, though, unless you really want to be a special snowflake.

The NiMH battery pack (four AA-sized cells for 4.8V) has its own plug sitting in the back, and it rests in the battery tray slot. If you have another Feng Jia electric blaster, you’ll see that the battery trays are all interchangeable, and the tray still fits here! The spring contacts present in the others aren’t soldered into the metal tabs as they are here. I added my own so that I could use either a rechargeable pack or whatever AA batteries I had available. Eventually I will replace the entire section of the shell with a LiPo battery.

The Belly of the Beast

When you open up the blaster, you can see the pusher mechanism. The power switch on the side of the blaster blocks the trigger from being pulled. If you look closely, the wires being used are TINY. In addition, all the current being used must pass through that tiny switch. If the wire from the switch ran to a MOSFET or a relay, that would be one thing. In any case, wire replacement will help stock NiMH-powered performance, and would be essential for any form of overhaul.

The motor cage is rather large! The blaster still uses regular 130 size motors, though. The flywheels are smooth and large. Their spacing is slightly farther apart than you would find in a Nerf Stryfe or Rapidstrike. However, it’s less than that of the Buzz Bee Brute. I imagine that it’s tailored to the darts that shipped with the blaster. Standard Elite darts will still work, as do other brands of foam darts.

Lesson Time!

There’s nothing complicated about the wiring. Each motor has a small capacitor running in parallel. They help reduce the electrical noise coming off of the motors. Since you have spinning magnets in there causing the current to rise and fall, the variance can result in electromagnetic waves being generated. For small circuits there isn’t much of a concern, but with higher current loads and/or long runs of wire (which can act as an antenna), these help reduce the radio interference.

Performance

Performance of the Feng Jia Cyber Hunter Sniper Rifle is excellent for a stock blaster. Darts velocities tend to hover around 70 FPS when exiting the muzzle, and ranges averaging 65′ (angled) are typical. Rapid firing does diminish range due to the motors not having time to come back up to speed. Even then, it only takes about a second between shots to keep darts going a fair distance.

Conclusion

The Feng Jia Cyber Hunter Sniper Rifle has an out-of-this-world design, and great ranges. Until recently, these blasters had to be shipped from overseas. However, you can now find several Feng Jia blasters at Academy Sports, being distributed under the “World Tech Toys” brand. Both the red and green versions of this blaster are available for $50. It’s pricey, but for such a large and unique blaster, it could be justified.

The post Feng Jia Toys Cyber Hunter Sniper Rifle Review appeared first on Blaster Hub.

While the Nerf Modulus Tri-Strike isn’t the first Elite-era blaster to fire multiple ammo types, it is the first blaster to fire three different ammo types. Firing attachments were one of my biggest hopes for the Modulus line, so the Tri-Strike was one of the most exciting releases for me this year. I did wait a little for the price to drop from its initial release price, but I was very excited to pick one up for myself.

Everything included in the Tri-Strike box.

The Box

Front of the box.

Back of the box.

Cardboard tray removed from the box.

Fairly standard box fare, all the main components are exposed and can all be inspected. The ammo and instructions are packed away in a corner, out of sight.

The Tri-Strike Blaster

Left side of the blaster.

Right side.

Looking at the muzzle piece.

Front view.

Top down view.

Tac rail on top.

Stock attachment point on back.

Looking down the iron sights.

The base Tri-Strike blaster is a very Retaliator-like piece, being a relatively compact mag-fed blaster. Its one main difference is its bolt handles versus the Retaliator’s top slide. Detail wise, the Tri-Strike seems better than a lot of Nerf’s recent offerings. Though there is still some obvious overspray, for the most part its lines are quite clean. Furthermore, the only detail on the right side missing from the left is black paint on the “NERF” protrusions. On the front of the blaster, the Tri-Strike has a small divot below the muzzle used to lock barrel extensions in place. Additionally, there is a little patterning on the front, along with the obvious orange paint. The Tri-Strike is all round quite a good looking, good quality blaster (in contrast with the Recon MkII).

Close up of the handle.

Holding the handle.

Holding the bolt handle.

While the Tri-Strike has a Modulus-style handle, its lines have been smoothed over and so it is rather comfortable to hold. I personally find the front edges of the handle to be slightly too sharp, although it’s still far more comfortable than the original Modulus’ handle. The Tri-Strike’s bolt handles are quite small, being only two-thirds the size of those found on the Longshot and Longstrike. While I personally find them reasonably comfortable, their small size may pose an issue if you have large hands.

Close up of the magwell.

Magwell with a mag inserted.

Reaching for the mag release.

The Tri-Strike is a pretty standard mag-fed blaster, with the magwell up front. It accepts all Nerf mags including drums. It has mag release buttons on the side of the magwell, like with the Retaliator. This presents an issue however, as the Tri-Strike’s magwell is further forward than on most other blasters. As a result, the mag release buttons are not reachable from the handle without very long fingers. This is unlike the Retaliator and Recon MkIIs, whose mag releases are easily reachable. This necessitates actuating the mag release with your off hand while clasping the mag, which is quite an awkward action. As such, I find reloading the Tri-Strike to be worse than most other blasters.

Close up of the jam door.

Jam door aperture.

Pushing the jam door to hold the bolt open.

The jam door and aperture on the Tri-Strike are pretty small, comparable to the Retaliator and Recon MkII. Unlike those blasters, the Tri-Strike’s jam door slides open. Interestingly, pushing the jam door back when the blaster is unprimed will open up the bolt partially. Most blasters have some sort of jam door lock, and in the case of sliding jam doors, they stop the jam door sliding back unless the bolt is open. Additionally, every springer blaster with a sliding door pushes the jam door closed if the bolt is closed. The Tri-Strike lacks this lock, so while the jam door closes when the bolt is closed, the jam door can also push back the bolt.

Tri-Strike next to a Recon MkII.

Top view of both.

Comparing the handle groups.

Comparing jam door apertures.

A comparison of the Tri-Strike and the Recon MkII, two similar but also quite different blasters. The first important difference is the priming mechanism. The Recon MkII uses a top slide, while the Tri-Strike uses a bolt. While top slides are often some of the most awkward priming mechanism, the Recon MkII is compatible with aftermarket Retaliator pump grips, whereelse the Tri-Strike is not. The second important difference is the overall length. The distance between the Tri-Strike’s handle and muzzle is noticeably greater than with the Recon MkII, making for a slightly longer blaster, and a much more awkward reload. The jam doors are also quite different, though less important than the aforementioned two.

The 10 Dart Mag

10 mag next to a 12 mag, left side.

Right side.

Both loaded up.

The included 10 dart mag is exactly what it sounds like – another N-Strike magazine sized-up to hold 10 darts. It is slightly shorter than a 12 dart mag, naturally. I find it a little odd that Nerf would bother designing a new 10 dart mag for the Tri-Strike, when including a 12 dart mag would have been easier, and perfectly acceptable. Personally, I would actually have preferred a 12 dart mag for the extra capacity.

The Mega Launcher

Side view of the Mega Launcher

Front view.

Rear view, note the locking nub and the odd protrusions.

The Mega Launcher is a barrel extension capable of firing 4 Megas. It’s quite a stubby piece, but is quite tall to accommodate the actual blaster. Unlike some of the smaller Modulus barrel extensions, the Mega Launcher has a spring loaded nub on the back that helps lock it in place on blasters.

Pump fully retracted.

Pump fully extended.

Loaded up and ready to fire.

The Mega Launcher is a pump-to-fire blaster. Simply pull the pump handle out all the way, then slam it back in to fire a dart, and repeat for all remaining darts. The harder you slam it back, the faster the Mega will be fired.

One Mega fired.

Two Megas fired.

Three Megas fired.

The Mega Launcher uses a block of Smart ARs to cycle through its darts. From the user’s perspective, the Launcher cycles clockwise, starting with the bottom left dart. Since the Smart AR system introduces more dead space in each subsequent barrel, there is a noticeable power loss cycling through each barrel. Furthermore, there is an issue of darts being double-fired in one firing stroke. This is always in issue in blasters with Smart ARs, however is especially prevalent in the Mega Launcher. All too often I would slam the pump back expecting to fire a single Mega a decent distance, only to have two Mega flop out of the barrels. Besides being undesirable for consistency’s sake, double-firing also often results in the wasting of one, if not both, of the Megas fired. From my experience, the top two barrels are the ones most likely to double-fire.

Next to a variety of other barrel extensions.

As mentioned earlier, the Mega Launcher is a rather stubby piece, and this image shows it next to a variety of other barrel extensions.

The Missile Launcher

Missile Launcher split apart.

The Missile Launcher is an unusual two-part blaster, consisting of a tac rail attachment and a stock, connected by an air hose.

Side view of the Missile Launcher attachment.

Looking into the Missile Launcher attachment.

Rear view.

Small tac rail on top.

Missile loaded into the Launcher.

Missile loaded, front view. Note that the Imperial logo is my labelling method.

The Missile Launcher module is a very simple piece. It consists purely of a hollowed cylinder containing a rocket peg, with a stock attachment point. It can be attached to tac rails, and also has a tac rail on the top. The air hose attaches to the top, and feeds into the missile peg. The Missile Launcher module is essentially identical to the barrel of the Thunderblast or Demolisher missile launchers.

Focusing on the stock piece of the Missile Launcher.

Stock/pump fully extended.

Close up of the handle on the stock.

The Missile Launcher is another pump-to-fire blaster, however its pump is not under its barrel. Instead, the pump is in its stock piece, and the air runs through a hose connecting the two pieces. The pump however is quite stiff, and as it is in the stock, it prevents shouldering of the blaster when firing the missile. This is a great detriment to accuracy and consistency as it is nearly impossible to fire off a stable shot.

Next to a variety of stocks.

As just a stock, I quite like the Missile Launcher stock. It’s a decent length and it’s quite sturdy. Length-wise it comes in just behind the Lightningstorm and Raider stocks, but ahead of the Demolisher stock.

Stock handle too close to the real handle.

I have one complaint with the stock: its handle is quite far forward. So when attached to a blaster, it leaves a very small space behind the blaster’s handle. This can be a little tight and uncomfortable for certain grip positions.

Missile Launcher assembled into its standalone form.

Missile Launcher assembled and loaded.

When not attached to another blaster, the Missile Launcher can be assembled into a standalone blaster. It is quite compact, however the same problems still apply. Since the stock is the pump, the Missile launcher cannot be shouldered, so stable shots are almost impossible to make. Furthermore, I personally find the lines on the stock handle to be a little sharp and uncomfortable.

Fully Assembled

Fully assembled, left side.

Right side.

Fully assembled and loaded.

The Tri-Strike fully assembled is an odd piece. On the one hand, it looks like a cool, complete rifle-sized blaster, and every component is usable. On the other hand, all the extra components make the Tri-Strike quite hefty and bulky, and the Missile launcher is still very poor to use. The extra weight makes it even more difficult to get a stable missile shot off.

Tri-Strike Performance

FPS shot of the Tri-Strike

Finally for performance. How do the Tri-Strike and its component blasters compare to the rest of Nerf’s offerings? The Tri-Strike’s range is about standard for a grey trigger blaster: around 8-10 metres with Modulus/Elite darts. The Mega Launcher is rather erratic, though typically achieves 8-12 metres if it doesn’t double-fire. The Missile Launcher is similarly inconsistent–even more so as it cannot be braced against your shoulder and fired effectively. I have so far been unable to fire a Missile further than 9 metres without angling the Missile Launcher very high up.

Accuracy is also about standard from the Tri-Strike: most shots make it through a doorway at 8 metres but a significant portion don’t. Again, this is primarily due to Modulus/Elite darts being horribly inaccurate, and switching to a more stable dart type greatly improves accuracy. The Mega Launcher is quite inaccurate, partly due to being pump-to-fire, but also partly due to Megas being horribly unstable. Its one consolation is that if the Mega Launcher is mounted on a blaster with a stock, it can at least be braced reasonably well against your shoulder. The Missile Launcher on the other hand, has absolutely no accuracy of which to speak. Since its stock is its pump, it is practically impossible to brace the Missile Launcher, or fire it with decent power as well as stability.

Rate of fire is generally a bit more promising. The Tri-Strike has slam-fire, putting it a step above its Retaliator/Recon MkII brethren. The stiffness of the bolt in slam-fire does limit slam-fire to a little slower than comparable pump action blasters, I’d estimate around 4 darts a second is the best you can achieve. With the Mega launcher’s somewhat ergonomic pump action, it can also achieve a decent ROF, I’d estimate around 3 darts a second. It is limited by the stiffness of the firing pump stroke, due to it being pump-to-fire. Since the missile launcher is a single shot, it can only achieve 1 missile every couple of seconds.

Role in Gameplay

The base Tri-Strike blaster functions essentially like a base Retaliator. It’s a relatively compact clip (mag) system blaster, and will work decently as a secondary/backup, or a small primary ideal in close quarters. The bolt handles will make holstering or carrying on a sling more annoying than with a Retaliator, and furthermore, a grey trigger Tri-Strike is noticeably weaker than a grey trigger Retaliator. It will still work decently well in close quarters.

The Mega Launcher is only suitable as a Mega firing backup/emergency. It isn’t particularly accurate, consistent or powerful, and as such won’t be a very good general combat blaster, especially with its tendency to double-fire. Rather, its main use would be in games where Megas have special abilities (for instance particular zombies that can only be stunned by Megas). A further disadvantage is the inability to use a pump grip if the base blaster is a Retaliator/Recon MkII/Tri-Strike. A seperate Mega blaster would be a much more effective option for actually firing Megas, though may not be ideal.

The Missile launcher is even less useful, as it is rather weak and very difficult to use consistently. It is effective only within a very short range, and is vastly outclassed by most other rocket launching blasters available. That said, it is quite compact and could work as a stop-gap solution in a pinch.

Value and Summary

The Tri-Strike is available for 50-60AUD, being available for 50AUD from a variety of stores including Target and Kmart, and BigW during sales. I purchased mine for 50AUD. Though I was by no means ripped off, it didn’t feel like particularly good value to me. The Tri-Strike set does effectively include 3 blasters in one, however the two secondary blasters lack triggers, and are generally not very good at blasting. The inclusion of a unique 10 dart mag instead of a more common–and more useful–12 dart mag is very odd, and further adds to the feeling that Nerf is deliberately cheaping out and not making much effort. I would only recommend the Tri-Strike if you’re specifically looking for fun and goofy attachments, rather than useful or practical parts. If you’re looking for an overall game-practical blaster, I’d definitely recommend the Retaliator as a superior alternative.

Modification Potential

Since the Tri-Strike itself is essentially a Retaliator, it can be modified in basically the same ways. An upgrade spring and a pump grip would quickly elevate it to being a solid all-round springer, effective in “superstock” and HvZ type events. There are many other mods that can be done to the Retaliator and likely the Tri-Strike, however documentation on such is very scarce for the Tri-Strike. Generally speaking, the Retaliator/Recon MkII are a much more popular platform to use than the Tri-Strike, because the former are compatible with a lot more aftermarket parts.

As for the secondary blasters, there’s not much to be done. Their power is entirely dependent on arm strength, and there’s nothing that can be done to improve performance short of entirely new internals. Improving their plunger seals would help efficiency, but again, power is still solely dependent on arm strength.

You can also find the same review on my own blog: Outback Nerf.

The post Review: Nerf Modulus Tri-Strike (Aus grey trigger) appeared first on Blaster Hub.

I must admit, seeing the Outbreaker-Bow first announced on Snapchat, didn’t excite me all that much as it appeared to be just another unoriginal, gimmicky blaster. Now that I’ve got my hands on the Out-Breaker Bow, let’s see if it can possibly offer more than just being another revolver blaster.

Included with the Outbreaker-Bow are five zombiestrike darts, an instruction sheet and bow-arms that are required to be attached onto the blaster. The bow arms will not be removable once they have been attached on.

Like the Zombiestrike Clampdown, this blaster is designed to look like as if it was made in the toolshed. It’s filled with nuts, bolts, pliers and even the priming handle is meant to be a pair of scissors! I really dig this design by Nerf as I think it creates a stronger zombie-apocalypse feeling. Since this blaster is a grey trigger model, some of the colours  will differ from your standard orange trigger blaster, such as the grey scissors.

However the ergonomics of this blaster is where it falls short. Usually a handle of a Nerf blaster is curved in a way to fit the user’s hands but with the Out-Breaker Bow, it’s not the same. When holding the blaster it feels as if all the weight is lying on your middle finger, making it an uncomfortable blaster to hold. The hand-guard is another gripe of mine, as it doesn’t give your wrist much freedom space (image below, displays my point). In fact, the whole backend of the blaster is useless, since nobody is going to rest the butt of the blaster on their shoulder. I doubt even a small child would. Since the holes on the scissors are quite small, your fingers are pinched when pulling the plunger back. The bow also comes with one tactical rail on the top.

To function this blaster is what you’d expect. Load 5 darts into its cylinder (yes one shot less than the Strongarm) and pull the scissors back to prime the blaster. Unfortunately, the cylinder, drum, or barrel, whatever you want to call it, does not flip out like a Strongarm.

I’ve noticed a lot of Zombiestrike blasters have been very poor in performance, especially the grey trigger versions. However, I’m happy to say that the Out-Breaker Bow is on par with most elite blasters. Most flat shots reach around 12-13 metres, similar to a Strongarm.

Verdict

Now I’m sure many of you are thinking, I’m quite happy with my Strongarm/Hammer-Shot, so why on earth do I need another revolver? And you are exactly right. The only reason why anyone would purchase this blaster is either because they haven’t already got a Nerf revolver or they really appreciate the aesthetics of the blaster. On the positive side, this is definitely the best crossbow blaster from Nerf. For two reasons. 1. The Crossfire-Bow was a terribly weak blaster and 2; nobody wants to buy a girly crossbow from the Rebelle series (maybe some, but you get my point). I guess if you have a strong fondness towards Crossbows, I’d recommend the Out-Breaker Bow. If you are interested in buying this blaster, it’s $25 at K-Mart (Australia) and $20 in the US. Considering the price of a Strongarm and Hammer-Shot is around $15, I’d suggest waiting a little longer for a sale and purchase the Out-Breaker Bow for $20 AUD. Hopefully you have benefitted from this review and wish you a happy New Year!

Prefer a video review? Check out my YouTube clip. Skip to 2:28 to see the blaster in action. 

The post Nerf Zombiestrike Outbreaker Bow Review appeared first on Blaster Hub.

The Desolator is one of the blasters in Doomlands’ subtheme, Impact Zone. This subtheme features a primarily white colour scheme, in contrast with regular Doomlands’ primarily yellow/orange colour scheme. The Desolator is often compared to the cheaper and simpler Elite Stryfe, as both are compact semi-auto flywheelers. Being compared to the Stryfe is by no means a bad thing however, as the Stryfe is one of the best and most popular modern blasters. Being compared to a great blaster is one thing, living up to expectations is another. Does the Desolator live up to its expectations?

Everything included with the Desolator.

The Box

Front of the box.

Back of the box.

Pretty standard open style box, nothing of particular interest here.

The Desolator Blaster

Right side of the Desolator.

Left side.

Down the top.

Top tac rails and flip-up jam door.

Sling point on the bottom of the handle.

Sling point below the muzzle.

Close up of the translucent panel on the right side.

The Desolator is a beautiful, compact blaster. It is packed with all kinds of aesthetic details like texturing on the grips, faux screws and what looks like a fluid pipe system. With the way Nerf’s being cutting back on aesthetic details (I’m looking at you Recon MkII), it’s always nice to see a blaster intricately detailed out-of-box. Like with other Doomlands blasters, the Desolator has a translucent window on one side to show some of the workings of the blaster. In this case it’s a window showing the magwell and the flywheel cage, though unlike with springers there’s very little to see here.

One minor complaint I do have is the inconsistency in width. The bulk of the Desolator is reasonably chunky, and unlike the Stryfe, is symmetrical for the most part. Behind the trigger however, it gets thinner, to the point where the stock appears strangely thin and out of place. It’s by no means flimsy, but it is rather odd.

Close up of the foregrip, right side.

Left side of the foregrip.

Close up of the handle and trigger area.

Hand on handle.

Close up just behind the handle.

The foregrip is one of the Desolator’s more distinct features. It’s a smooth, curved piece that is well shaped and textured, and in my opinion is one of the best looking and most comfortable foregrips, with one caveat. The motors in the flywheel cage protude out the left side, so necessitates a protrusion to protect the motors. The box protrusion cuts into the foregrip, in particular the bottom-left cylinder. As a right-hander, this cylinder pokes directly into the palm of my left hand, which is rather irrating and a little uncomfortable. That said, it’s far from the most uncomfortable grip I’ve felt.

The Desolator’s handle uses a unique ribbing design that I personally don’t like. I find the edges to be a little sharp and uncomfortable, certainly more so than the more traditional smooth N-Strike/Elite handles. That said, I have no issues holding the handle and actuating the main trigger, rev trigger or mag release. My biggest complaint is actually with the ribbing pattern just behind the handle. This ribbing is irritatingly sharp, and sits right on the gap between thumb and forefinger.

Looking at the stock.

Showing the thinness of the stock.

Battery tray in the stock.

The stock is another feature that makes the Desolator look so distinct. In actual use however, it has a number of flaws. The first is its length, which is quite short. I personally am ok with it, however would have much preferred if it were longer. This is not an issue with the Stryfe, which accepts various stocks, allowing you to choose the most appropriate stock length. Additionally, the stock is rather thin, and when viewed from above it looks quite strange. This leads to the butt of the stock being quite narrow and sharp, making the Desolator less comfortable to shoulder. I personally think that the stock would have been much better if it were a little longer and thicker.

The battery tray is inside the stock, accessible from the right side. It takes 4 AAs as usual.

Close up of the magwell.

Mag loaded in the magwell.

35 drum loaded in the magwell.

Looking inside the magwell.

The Desolator’s magwell is quite stylised and sharp, though functionally is no different to that of the Stryfe. Despite its design, it is capable of using any Nerf mag or drum, including the 35 drum pictured. Inserting and removing mags is generally smooth and easy, and the mag release is easy to actuate. The one complaint I do have relates to a lock at the top of the magwell. This lock disables the flywheels and main trigger if no mag is loaded. While a useful safety feature, it is also extremely stiff and makes inserting mags a little bit harder. Naturally this lock is easily removed, making the mag removal and insertion completely smooth.

Desolator next to a Stryfe.

Without mags.

The Desolator is more similar to the Stryfe than just being a semi-auto flywheeler. As these images demonstrate, their overall layouts and dimensions are very similar. Functionally speaking, the two have no significant difference, the Desolator is essentially just a Stryfe with a fixed stock. The one difference I will point out though is the foregrips. The Stryfe has a tac rail to accomodate foregrip attachments, while the Desolator has a curved foregrip. I personally find the latter to be far more comfortable and better looking than any of Nerf’s foregrip attachments.

The 10 Dart Mag

Desolator mag next to a regular 10 dart banana mag.

Right side of the mags.

Mag loaded up.

Functionally, the Desolator’s unique 10 dart banana mag is no different to the existing 10 dart banana mag. Aesthetically however, the two are very different. The Desolator’s mag has a translucent right side, allowing convenient ammo checking unlike the solid orange N-Strike/Modulus mag. This mag also has an attachment on the bottom, and different styling on the sides. The bottom attachment is functionally irrelevant, however is very similar to that found on Double Dealer mags, and adds extra flair and style to an otherwise boring and ordinary mag.

Desolator Performance

FPS shot of the Desolator.

Since this particular Desolator is an orange trigger model, it is more powerful than the typical stock blasters I can buy in Australia. Note that performance was tested with near full charge alkalines. Range wise the Desolator achieved around 11-13 metres parallel to ground at full speed. This is noticeably better than typical grey trigger performance, though is not unusual for orange trigger blasters. In terms of muzzle velocity, it was achieving an average of around 60fps with quite good consistency. Rapid fire reduces muzzle velocity and range significantly, with the Desolator requiring a good 3 seconds to rev up to full speed.

Accuracy wise the Desolator is surprisingly good. Despite using Elite-style darts, most darts flew straight, with veering usually occuring only beyond 9 metres. I was getting quite tight spreads even with Elites, certainly better than most stock blasters I’ve tested recently.

Rate of fire is entirely dependent on trigger technique. A decent trigger technique can yield 4-5 darts per second reliably, while specialised techniques can easily exceed that. Note that higher ROF is not possible with a stock Desolator, as the flywheels will slow down until they stall.

Role in Gameplay

Since the Desolator is essentially a Stryfe with a short stock, it fills the same sort of roles. Although usable as an all-round blaster, a stock Desolator is most effective in close range. At this range it can take full advantage of its ROF without being too heavily impacted by its range loss during rapid fire. At longer ranges, the Desolator is at a disadvantage to more powerful blasters such as the Retaliator, though is still capable of trading fire with them.

Unlike the Stryfe, the Desolator cannot be set up in a variety of sizes and shapes, and so is not quite as versatile. That said however, I personally find the Desolator to be much better looking than any of the Stryfe’s possible setups.

Value and Summary

The Desolator in the US is a Target exclusive, retailing for 30USD. For comparison, a Stryfe retails for 20USD, and the Retaliator 25USD. Relative to the Stryfe, the Desolator represents decent value as it offers a more complete blaster, with a fixed stock and a larger mag, for an extra 10USD. While it doesn’t quite compare to the Retaliator for raw value, little else can. Not only is the Desolator reasonably priced, but it is also an all round solid stock blaster, and offers quite good mod potential. If you’re looking for a decent stock blaster, an awesome looking flywheeler or even just a cool, fun blaster, the Desolator is certainly an option I would recommend considering.

Modification Potential

Internals of my modded Desolator

As mentioned many times throughout this review, the Desolator is essentially just a fancy Stryfe with a short stock. With that in mind, it can be modified in essentially the same way. A basic rewire will improve performance slightly, even with AAs. A new set of motors with appropriate wiring, switch and power source can have it hitting 110+fps muzzle velocity reliably, even in rapid fire. Such mods also essentially eliminate rev-up time, removing one of the biggest drawbacks of flywheel blasters. Replacing the flywheels with aftermarkets ones can bump up its muzzle velocity even more, up to and beyond 130fps. When overhauled, the Desolator becomes a top notch “superstock” level blaster, just like the Stryfe.

One potential issue with the Desolator is having to run wires through the magwell. There is very little space for them, so I’d recommend using a slightly thinner wire for convenience.

There’s an additional boon for aesthetic modders. The majority of differently coloured sections of the shell are actually seperate pieces, and can be removed. For instance, the black foregrip and the front tac rail are both easily removable. This makes it much easier to paint different segments, as well as easier to test and maintain.

You can find the same review on my own blog: Outback Nerf

The post Review: Nerf Doomlands Desolator (US orange trigger) appeared first on Blaster Hub.

We’ve seen companies make alterations to blasters on the market, and we’ve seen brand new versions. For example, Hasbro remade many old Nstrike blasters in their creation of the Nstrike Elite line. We’ve also seen Elite blasters recolored and labeled “Elite XD”, with supposedly greater ranges (spoiler: they didn’t).

Now, Buzz Bee Toys has a new version of the Jaguar appearing on store shelves. It claims to be an Ultra Tek blaster, with ranges to match. But is it a redesign, or a marketing stunt? All indications signal the former!

What’s a Jaguar, Some Kind of Cat?

Comparing the new and old blaster packaging!

I found this version of the Jaguar two days ago at Walmart, for the same price as the old Jaguar. The packaging was obviously different, with range claims of up to 72′ instead of the previous 30′. In addition, there’s a completely different model number – 48249, as opposed to the original blaster’s 48250.

For those wanting information on the original Jaguar, I suggest this blog post. It includes internals.

Once removed from the package, the differences in the shell become more apparent than when viewed in the toy aisle. There is, of course, more variation in the shell coloring, but there’s also a wider, rounder portion towards the top of the shell. This is where the new plunger tube slides back and forth.

In addition, there’s enough power in the blaster to justify having a true air safety valve. Most older Buzz Bee blasters, including the original Jaguar, simply relied on a small diameter air outlet coming from the plunger tube, which then fed through an oversized dart post or fake shell casing. All of that is gone now, leaving us a vertical clip that is virtually free of obstruction. Remove the valve if you like, just be aware that you can’t dry-fire it without damaging the shell.

Show Me the Goods!

Inside the shell, you can REALLY see the difference. The plunger draw is the same, at about 2-1/16″ long. The plunger tube, however, is much wider in diameter. sitting at 1 1/8″ ID for most of its length (the back third of it is tapered). The old version couldn’t even fit 1/2″ PVC pipe inside it.

The blaster primes like most current Buzz Bee clip-fed blasters. The entire plunger tube moves, pushing the plunger back until it catches. There’s no slam fire mechanism.

In the end, however, the real evidence of change for any blaster product has to be performance. In that area, the 2017 Jaguar is a vast improvement over the older model. The supplied Ultra Tek darts hit a respectable 67 fps on average. There is one issue with the blaster; it doesn’t prime far enough to reach the tapered portion! The reason this is bad is simple – until the air safety valve engages the dart in the clip, the forward motion of priming pulls a vacuum in the plunger. Even after moving the plunger tube to its forward position, you still have a dart blocking off the barrel. It takes a second for the pressure in the tube to equalize. If you modify the blaster and remove the valve, of course, it will no longer be an issue.

In the end, the latest model year Jaguar is a vast improvement over its predecessor. The internals are better, the modding potential is better, EVERYTHING is better. And for $5, it’s quite a steal. Grab one or two the next time you need blasters for a pistol round!

The post Buzz Bee Jaguar Review: a New Breed of Blaster appeared first on Blaster Hub.

Here at Blasterhub,  we usually focus on things like dart and water blasters. There are a few related items, however, that don’t always get a lot of attention. Laser tag has been around for quite a while, and since Bazookafied ended his blog, I really haven’t seen much on the topic. Today’s post considers not a store-bought product, but rather an expanding indoor laser tag fanchise. Hard Knocks is up to seven currently open locations in the eastern half of the United States, with more opening soon. Here are my thoughts.

Clearly, women in tank tops holding guns is an attempt at targeting baby boomers…

Call of Duty: Infrared Ops

Immediately upon entering the facility or looking at the website, you can tell that Hard Knocks is skipping the space-age laser tag setting and going for the standard first-person shooter feel. All the equipment used is of the police training type, resembling real firearms. There are no goals to shoot for points or special weapon upgrades for tagging enough people in a row.

Pick your poison.

Each player has a vest with three sensors; larger guns also have a mounted sensor. You start with (usually) ten lives each, respawning two seconds after each hit and playing until either all lives are lost or all ammo is used. Yes, you start with a limited number of “clips” and, barring game type rules, cannot get more shots.

The arenas are not unlike what you’d see in an online PvP map, or an airsoft arena. There are warehouse, office building, and house play areas. On especially busy days with lots of people playing (or with group reservations), the play areas can all be opened up into one large arena. Usually, though, there are games taking place in all three areas. All play areas are low-light settings, and you can easily see both blaster fire and vests lighting up after hits.

Facilities

Sitting at one of the tables, with a pillar conveniently blocking the view of the arena entrance.

The lobbies are of course well lit and clean, with plenty of branding adorning the walls. For people not currently playing, there are screens showing different sports networks – chances are there’s a game of some kind playing. In addition, there are split screens with camera feeds from the play areas for watching your teammates play. Of course, a concession stand completes the experience, serving basic food, fountain drinks, and alcoholic beverages for those 21 and over.

Gameplay – FRIENDLY FIRE IS ALWAYS ON

The actual draw of the facility, laser tag, is one of the best I’ve ever come across. The vests are adjustable in fit, the tagging equipment is regularly cleaned and recharged, and it all works. The last part should be obvious, but I’ve seen many places with half the equipment being faulty in some way. More importantly, barring some reserved event, walk-on players are always welcome. No need to bring a group with you, although I would question why you aren’t trying to shoot your friends…?

In the prep area, picking the guns. They all have clearly labeled names, and you’d better put them back where they came from!

There are several weapons from which to choose. Pistols are shorter in range, but they can fire rapidly with a healthy number of shots each. They can also reach around corners without exposing the user, since they don’t have sensors on them. Shotguns are slow to reload and only have 40 shots total, but their wide lenses and super bright IR emitters mean that they can hit multiple people at once, and often from across the entire arena. Several flavors of imitation machine gun and assault rifle are also available, depending on the franchise location. Most have the extra tagging sensor mounted on top, but they also feature automatic fire and some type of ACOG. All guns suit particular playstyles, and have theoretical strengths and weaknesses.

And on the Field…

One teammate, shortly before his demise.

In practice, the setup works fairly well. Pistols are great in close quarters, but can’t hit targets that are too far away. Automatic laser tag equipment is great for suppression or for hitting people on the move. The extra tagging sensor also prevents it from giving an unfair advantage. Players can target the blaster itself even if the user is behind cover. It also prevents issues that may arise from a large weapon shielding part of the user’s vest. The emitters are set up for longer range shots with narrow fields of fire, providing for great accuracy.

Shotguns are a mixed bag, and they largely depend on the person using them. Between the large targeting field and the fact that FRIENDLY FIRE IS ON, players can hit five or six opponents, or they could hit their own teammates. In addition, the brightness of the emitter and the low-light setting of the arena can cause issues with light reflecting off of walls and still being bright enough to trigger vests of people behind cover. As it stands, however, the forty shot limit and slow reloading seems to be perfect for balance purposes. AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PUT THE SHOTGUN USER IN FRONT OF YOUR TEAM.

What Game Types?

If you’ve seen it in an online shooter or a Nerf war, chances are you’ll be playing it here too. All the game types have names, but they do boil down to FFA, Team Deathmatch, VIP rounds, etc. Some modes will have extra twists; “Resurrection” gives everyone a glowstick they can turn in upon death for another free set of lives and ammo. “Sabotage” picks one player on each team to be a traitor, and if they manage to be the last man standing in the entire game, they can win a free game. Some modes start teammates behind enemy lines. “Revenge” turns the first few people eliminated into their own, third team that the starting teams now have to fight in addition to each other. You just have to show up and try them all to see what you like.

Cost

Hard Knocks is geared toward the “membership” type of pricing – annual membership as of this post was $5.99 at my location. Basically, if you plan on ever visiting more than once, it’s cheaper to do the membership and have your own card to load games on. Eight missions was (again, prices will vary) $33.99 for members, while visitors can buy six for $36.99. Sound weird? It shouldn’t. Places like Kroger have been doing this for years, with items being ” ON SALE FOR $3.99 WITH YOUR PLUS CARD”. So it’s not like its a new concept. Doing it this way just means they can sign you up for the newsletter, email deals for different holidays, etc.

VERDICT

Clearly, I was running on a lot of caffeine that day.

Perhaps because of the FPS theme, I’ve played with people of all ages, from elementary school to college to my parents’ age. Everyone there, myself included, has fun. In the end, that’s really all there is to it. Rounds can be over in mere minutes, or you could take a quarter of an hour making slow advances and still end in a draw. Regardless of game type, weapons used, and people playing, the end result is nothing short of a good time. Weekends are obviously the best times for large numbers of players, but Hard Knocks is there any day of the week for a bit of stress relief.

A map of both open and soon-to-open franchises can be found HERE.

Links to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The post Hard Knocks Laser Tag Review appeared first on Blaster Hub.

Last week, the people at Knex were kind enough to send me samples of their current blaster line for review, while we wait on the new models shown at Toy Fair to become available. My sincerest thanks to them! I’ll cover the Flash Fire in another post, since it’s a different animal.

The second generation of KForce blasters included motorized and multishot blasters. Two models of the Rotoshot (with a five dart revolving chamber) can be found for $40, each including over 200 pieces in addition to the main blaster unit. Do they perform, and are they worth it? Quite simply, it depends on your enthusiasm for building.

The Blaster Unit

The part of the blaster you don’t make yourself is very well built. The spring within is comparable to a Maverick in terms of power – short but stiff. The revolver turns on the prime, with the rotation mech resetting about 3/4 of the way into the priming motion. The entire unit, revolver included, unscrews, and the air restriction valves can be dropped out if you so desire. However, unless you’re adding barrel length, there’s no real benefit there.

An o-ring seals against the dart chamber, and does so very well. The unit is triggered by the orange piece in the rear, which lifts the sear when it moves. This orange piece is what has to be pressed by the trigger when you’ve made the blaster body.

All said and done, this unit easily fires darts 75′ using angled ranges, with my chronograph reading 71 fps with the included darts. So far, so good!

Building the Beast

Surprisingly, the box volume is FAR bigger than necessary for the parts included. This is probably more a reflection of the size of the end product. Big box is supposed to make you think bigger blaster and all that. Nevertheless, Knex gets a Black Hole award for taking up so much space.

Each kit comes with instructions for building the base model. In addition, you can enter the product code at http://knex.com/instructions to get PDF files with instructions for alternate models. As someone with decades of building toy experience, the full model only took me fifteen minutes to assemble. Your mileage will vary.

After the fact, however, I just didn’t like the size of the blaster, considering it only had five shots. So I tore the whole thing apart, and then built an alternate model in five minutes. It just felt better having a smaller blaster. Either option felt sturdy, by the way, and they held up great at an indoor war with no durability problems making an appearance.

In addition, having smaller blasters simply means more pieces are available for building the targets, or whatever else I can imagine!

Knex “Manta Rays” should be a thing, right?

Verdict

The blaster is sturdy and fires well; I wouldn’t be afraid to use this in a fast-paced war, or even at an HvZ game. Knex proved far more durable than I ever expected for blaster applications. The only issue is the price. $40 for a five shot revolver is steep for someone only interested in blasters. If you’re willing to treat it as a two-part gift ($20 building set and $20 blaster), then by all means grab one.

The post Knex KForce Rotoshot Review appeared first on Blaster Hub.

As part of the merchandise lines for Rogue One, Hasbro produced and released multiple new Star Wars blasters. The blaster in question, the Jyn Erso blaster, is the largest and most expensive of the ones slated for general release, and was the only one of the three that presented anything of interest to me. It took a 50% discount for me to even consider buying one, but even at that price, is it worth the money?

Everything in the box.

The Box

Front of the box.

Back of the box.

The A280-CFE Blaster

The A280-CFE Blaster

The Jyn Erso blaster is based off of the A280-CFE blaster rifle. The blaster rifle is a modular one, being disassemblable into multiple components, including the stock, barrel and scope. This modular construction makes it ideal for a Nerf blaster with multiple attachment points. The Jyn Erso blaster replicates only the base blaster, however the Cassian Andor Deluxe blaster is a blue version that includes a barrel, stock and scope (all repainted Nerf parts).

The Star Wars Darts

Close up of the logos on the Star Wars darts.

A look at the darts while glowing.

A quick look at the included Star Wars darts. Unlike the Force Awakens blasters, the Rogue One blasters all include the same dart, a white body, trans-green tip Elite. In exchange for sacrificing in-universe accuracy (all the Rogue One blasters in-universe fire red blaster bolts), the Rogue One darts glow in the dark. Each of the Rogue One blasters features some kind of light system that charges loaded darts. Like with older glow-in-the-dark Nerf darts, these darts do not hold their charge for very long, however the effect they provide is a neat and fun gimmick.

The 6 Dart Mag

A look at the unique 6 dart mag.

The included 6 dart mag is also worth a quick mention, as it is the first full trans-orange Elite mag. Typical Elite mags have an opaque left side, which would inhibit the charging of the GITD darts.

The Jyn Erso Blaster

Right side of the blaster.

Left side.

Down the top.

Close up of the tac rail.

Looking at the stock attachment point.

Close up of the muzzle.

The Jyn Erso blaster is a surprisingly large one, with a very long barrel. It has many molded details, as well as grey plastic inserts rather than paint. It also has a number of features that you may recognise from real-life firearms, since the A280-CFE was built from real-life firearms.

The blaster has a single tac rail on top, right in front of the magwell. While this placement is rather unusual by Nerf blaster standards, it corresponds fairly accurately to the scope placement of the A280-CFE. The blaster also accepts stock and barrel attachments, however most barrels will be loose due to the lack of locking divot below the muzzle, and general lack of supporting plastic.

Close up of the jam door.

Looking into the jam door aperture.

The blaster features a flip-up jam door. This particular jam door is rather poorly designed and placed, as this area of the blaster is the thinnest. As such, the jam door aperture is very narrow, and difficult to access and use. Furthermore, certain tac rail attachments such as scopes may prevent the opening and use of the jam door.

Close up of the handguard area.

Lights activated.

Left hand on foregrip.

A look at the battery tray cover.

Battery tray exposed.

A look from below at the foregrip.

The fore end of the Jyn Erso blaster is quite tall. The lower section is dedicated to a rounded foregrip, while the upper part is dedicated to the lighting system, with a speaker further back. The lights and sound system activate on trigger pull, with the lights turning on in sequence to simulate the firing of a blaster bolt. This feature is testable even when the blaster is still in box, as the blaster is supplied with batteries.

The round foregrip is fairly well designed, being of decent length and width. It offers a fairly comfortable grip design, however I personally find it far too far forward to hold comfortably with a typical two hand grip. The foregrip is about 11cm forward of the magwell, which is far more forward than the typical foregrip of a Nerf blaster. This foregrip placement is accurate to the source material of the A280-CFE however. The foregrip also contains the battery tray for the blaster, holding 4 AAs in a 2×2 configuration. This adds a fair amount of weight to the front end of the blaster.

The area between the magwell and foregrip is designed to emulate the same area on the A280-CFE. As mentioned just above, I personally find the foregrip too far forward to use comfortably, preferring to have my off hand just in front of the magwell. These rectangular shapes between the magwell and foregrip are quite uncomfortable and awkward to hold however.

Close up of the handle area.

Right hand on handle.

Close up of the magwell.

Mag loaded in magwell.

Reaching for the mag release.

No mag release on the left side.

Magwell lights on.

The handle of the Jyn Erso blaster is quite different from typical Nerf blaster styling, instead emulating a more realistic design. The handle also has rough grey texturing pieces inserted on either side. I personally find it fairly comfortable to hold, however it is quite thin, and if you have larger hands, you may find it too small.

The magwell of the blaster almost lines up with the faux magwell design on the shell. It supports the use of Nerf’s other mags and drums without issue. The mag release is a button, and is only present on the right side of the blaster. Holding this button down allows easy removal of the currently loaded mag. This mag release is easy to use for right-handers, however presents a major challenge for left handers, as the button is quite high up and is difficult to reach with your off hand.

The magwell also contains two LEDs, which are turned out when the acceleration trigger is pressed. These LEDs charge any glow-in-the-dark darts that are loaded near the top of the mag.

Jyn Erso Blaster next to a Stryfe.

As mentioned previously, the Jyn Erso blaster is quite a big blaster. It is substantially longer and bulkier than a Stryfe. Due to the placement of the battery tray in the foregrip, it is also a lot more front-heavy and unbalanced, especially without a stock. In terms of barrel length, it even beats the Rapidstrike for barrel length, which is already a fairly long blaster.

Jyn Erso Blaster Performance

First person view of the Jyn Erso Blaster.

Range wise the Jyn Erso blaster is capable of around 7-9 metres parallel to ground. This puts it pretty much on par with most grey trigger flywheel blasters. In terms of muzzle velocity, it averages about 50fps, with minimal deviation. Naturally the Jyn Erso blaster requires several seconds of rev-up to achieve maximum range, and loses a lot of range during rapid fire.

Accuracy is not particularly good, with a lot of darts drifting sideways when using the included darts. I’d estimate it to be slightly worse than a typical grey trigger Elite-era blaster.

Rate of fire, like with Nerf’s other semi-auto flywheeler, is entirely dependent on trigger technique. A ROF of 5+ darts per second is certainly possible, though not sustainable with a stock blaster. The most you can achieve with a stock Jyn Erso Blaster while maintaining decent range is about one dart per second.

Role in Gameplay

The Jyn Erso blaster functions just like any other stock semi-auto flywheeler, performing best in close quarters. At close range, its rev-up time is less of an issue, as is range loss during rapid fire, allowing you to exploit its high ROF to full advantage. The Jyn Erso blaster’s length may pose a maneuverability issue in close quarters however. As per usual for a stock flywheeler, it suffers heavily in longer ranged combat where spin-up time and range loss becomes much more significant.

Value and Summary

In Australia, the Jyn Erso blaster retails for around 90AUD, with sales typically bringing it down to around 60AUD. I personally bought mine for 45AUD, half price at BigW. Even for that discount, I don’t feel that I got a very good deal. Considering the Stryfe retailed for a mere 25AUD, the Jyn Erso blaster does not offer a whole lot at its price point. Sure the lights and sound system is a neat feature, and its shell design is quite unique, but I cannot find any reasonable justification for its price. Unless you absolutely love its lights and sound system, or its shell design, I would suggest saving your money for another blaster.

Modification Potential

Internals of the blaster.

Besides the lights and sound system, the Jyn Erso blaster is a pretty standard semi-auto flywheeler. As such, performance wise, it can reach the same level, 110+fps with a full internal overhaul. With a regulated voltage (around 5V should work fine) and possibly some RF suppression, the lights and sound system should work fine alongside the upgraded internals. Of course, the lights and sound system could be easily removed or disabled if undesired.

You can find the same review on my own blog: Outback Nerf

The post Review: Star Wars Jyn Erso Deluxe Blaster appeared first on Blaster Hub.

Chinese toy companies are known to produce their own versions of popular toy blasters, if not outright copies. One such company is Zecong Toys. Known mostly for the “Blaze Storm” series of blasters, they tend to put their own spin on products. In this case, they’ve copied the Rival Zeus. But does it stand up to the original?

In the interest of full disclosure, I was one of a few people to import large quantities of these blasters from China, and will have them on sale again at some point when I’m not so busy. I’ll do my best to give an impartial opinion, though!

Looking Good!

The Blaze Storm Zeus (item zc7073) looks and feels different straight out of the box. It’s wider than the original, and the plastic is glossy and smooth to the touch. It has a solid feel, and isn’t cheaply constructed.

Functionally, everything is the same, although slight differences in the parts also exist. The handle is extended in order to feature a complete thumb hole. The magazine retaining tab is wider than on the Zeus, and the plastic ridges on the magazine and where it sits are also slightly different. Different enough, in fact, to make the magazines incompatible with the regular versions. Shaving the plastic down solves the problem, but it is still an unfortunate oversight on the part of Zecong.

Interestingly, the Zecong version doesn’t feature any of the Rival rails for attachments or magazine holders. Instead, it features a functional Picatinny rail. The user can use any sort of airsoft or firearm optics and accessories! Of course firearm optics are generally pointless for foam flinging endeavors, but it’s a nice touch in terms of aesthetics.

Like the original, this blaster is powered by six “C” batteries, sitting in a removable tray. It also features the same safety switches, requiring a magazine to be present and the jam door to be closed before the motors will rev up. Quite frankly, this is the highest quality knockoff blaster I’ve seen to date.

Internals

On the inside of the blaster is the usual setup for semiauto blasters. A rev trigger sits below the main trigger, and it completes the circuit for the flywheel motors. The main trigger pushes the next ball into the flywheel cage, while extending a tab to prevent the entire magazine from dumping out. Interestingly, there is no rubber flap inside the barrel for inducing spin in the balls. As a result, there is slightly less range. It’s a simple case of aerodynamics – having a certain amount of hop-up generates lift.

The wider shell, meanwhile, actually makes this blaster easier to mod than the Zeus. Quite simply, there’s space. It’s a simple matter to stuff wire connectors in front of the motors, or to drop a MOSFET elsewhere in the blaster. If you’re new to modding electric blasters, there’s enough room in the stock to throw in an automotive relay – just wire the rev trigger to the switch side, and use the other terminals to dump current directly to the motors.

Performance

As mentioned before, the lack of hop-up means that ranges are 5-10 feet less than the original Zeus blaster. Otherwise, the blaster behaves similarly, down to the time it takes for the motors to rev back up after firing a ball. Modding, of course, will change the results significantly. Reloading, however, will still be an issue without extra magazines; you really shouldn’t have to modify a blaster just to add compatibility that should’ve been there in the first place.

Verdict

The Zecong zc7073 is one of the best blaster clones to date, with performance similar to the original (if slightly inferior) and an attractive shell. It’s hard to find in the United States, although it can be found with some difficulty on Taobao and similar websites. Should you get one? It really comes down to whether you want a unique item or not. For most anyone, a Zeus will be just fine. Of course, why buy a Zeus when you could get a Khaos or (very soon) a Nemesis?

The post Zecong Toys Zeus Clone Review appeared first on Blaster Hub.

Among the many things on display at Toy Fair this past February was the newest version of one of Marshmallow Fun Company’s flagship products. The Extreme Blaster reduces the amount of plastic used in manufacturing and simplifies the blasting process, putting the projectile directly in front of the air tank. While it’s been available online for months now, at varying prices, only recently did I see it in a store. Now that the impulse buy has occurred, let’s do a review!

TO THE EXTREME!

The Extreme Blaster is a stylistically different beast. The simple curved surfaces and a sliding breech have all been replaced. Instead, we now have break-action reloading and a precise, mechanical look. The pump handle, while uniquely shaped, is comfortable to use over long periods. A button at the front of the blaster carrying handle serves to swing open the barrel for easy loading. Like previous models, the barrel features basic polygonal rifling. Obviously, marshmallows are not standard projectiles, so a little spin helps greatly.

The blaster functions similarly to previous models; a catch keeps a large diameter check valve from actuating until the trigger is pulled. Unlike the last Marshmallow Blaster, the valve piston is contained wholly within the air tank. With the improved design and much less dead space between the valve and projectile, you can indeed get near forty feet with just 8-10 pumps.

Make sure to eat copious amounts of marshmallows between shots.

It should be noted that the pump has no safety valve. The pump simply does not extend the full length of the tube. The dead space at the end results in a physical pressure limit that you won’t exceed unless you modify the design. And on the pump end, modification really isn’t necessary.

The grip is tiny. TINY. I have smaller hands, and I could almost wrap my fingers around the entire thing. Just be warned that adult fans may find it uncomfortable.

But Does It Do Darts?

As a site primarily devoted to Nerf and blaster items, we have to at least explore possibilities with foam dart usage. Otherwise, we would be failing at our job!

The Extreme Blaster easily holds four darts in the mouth of the barrel for a small, thirty to forty foot shotgun blast. It’s not a perfect seal, but the volume of air released if high enough for that to not matter. If we’re trying for single dart performance, one test I did should serve as sufficient proof of power. Using a full foot of 1/2″ CPVC (already a barrel material that’s usually too tight for stock darts), Elite streamlines were hitting a consistent average of 260fps with just ten pumps. Using better barrel materials (as well as longer ones) would make breaking 300fps extremely easy to accomplish.

Final Thoughts

The Marshmallow Extreme Blaster is a clear improvement over older models. It looks better, performs better, and simply IS better. $25 still seems high for an asking price, but the quality more than makes up for it. Even if you don’t get one on sale, it’s a fine blaster for either sugary sweet adventures or modding for more NIC-style shenanigans.

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